2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize: Indians Parul Kaushik, Tino de Sa shortlisted for Asia

Two writers from India – Parul Kaushik and Tino de Sa – and one each from Bangladesh – Faria Basher – and Pakistan – Tahoor Bari – have been shortlisted for the The Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Asian region.

The prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth’s 56 Member States. Regional winners (Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean, and Pacific) each receive £2,500, and the overall winner receives £5,000. The regional winners will be announced on May 14 and the overall winner on June 25 at an in-person award ceremony.

The shortlist of 18 writers from 25 countries was selected from almost 8,000 entries. The shortlisted stories range from historical fiction to satire and crime and speculative writing, to family dramas and coming-of-age stories. The stories also tackle topics such as human trafficking, war and bereavement to motherhood, unlikely friendships and unexpected love.

In addition to English, the Prize also accepts submissions in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish.

Two Commonwealth countries – Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia – have authors on the shortlist for the first time. The shortlisted writers range in age from 21 to 75, and all...

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