Indian writer Sharon Aruparayil is the Asia winner of the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

The 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize has announced the regional winners from Africa, Asia, Canada/Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Indian writer Sharon Aruparayil’s short story, “Mehendi Nights”, is the Asia winner. This story is a speculative world inspired by the chawls of Mumbai, where women are forbidden language and a girl with crooked teeth and red-stained fingers discovers that desire is a dialect no man can scrub clean.

The overall winner will be announced on June 30. The regional winners receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000. The winning stories have been published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink.

Here is the complete list of winners:

• Africa: “Me and Ma’am”, Lisa-Anne Julien (South Africa)

• Asia: “Mehendi Nights”, Sharon Aruparayil (India)

• Canada/Europe: “The Bastion’s Shadow”, John Edward DeMicoli (Malta)

• Caribbean: “The Serpent in the Grove”, Jamir Nazir (Trinidad and Tobago)

• Pacific: “Second Skin”, Holly Ann Miller (New Zealand)

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