COMMONWEALTH WRITERS: Call for Pacific Stories

Mary Rokonadravu winner 2015.

The 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Pacific Region was won by Mary Rokonadravu of Fiji.  We are delighted to celebrate the prize’s first winner from a Pacific island country.
We hope that many more writers from countries in the region will submit stories to next year’s prize.
Before the prize opens, we are offering writers from Pacific island countries the opportunity to submit short stories to Commonwealth Writers and to receive feedback on them.  This is to support writers and encourage them, subsequently, to enter the prize.
The stories submitted will be read by a team of experienced readers and brief comments and suggestions will be sent back to each writer. These readers will not be connected to the Prize in any way or to its panel of judges.
This opportunity is designed to target a region from which we receive fewer entries for the Prize.

Eligibility

Pacific countries in the Commonwealth include: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.  Citizens of any of these countries are eligible to enter the Short Story Prize.
However, this feedback opportunity is limited to those writers in countries where such opportunities are fewer.  Entrants must be a citizen of a Commonwealth country and resident in one (or more) of the following countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu.

How to submit your stories

Now – 31 August:
Send us your stories.  We will accept one story from each writer, up to a maximum of 3000 words in length.
All stories entered must be fictional, previously unpublished and written by the person making the submission.  Only short stories will be accepted on this occasion – not excerpts from longer works.
These stories should be submitted by email to commonwealthwriters@gmail.com.  In the accompanying email, please give us your:

• name
• age
• contact telephone number
• address
• nationality
• country of residence
• and a brief paragraph about yourself.

The best format for sending us your stories is by attaching a word document.  If you do not have access to email we hope you will be able to find someone who will let you use their connection.
15 September – 30 September:
All entrants will receive very brief emailed feedback from our team of readers.
Writers may then consider the advice given to see if they agree with it or not!  They may choose to re-draft them along the lines suggested (or along any other lines) or to keep the stories as they are.
Regardless, they will be eligible to submit these stories or any others to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, where they will be read by a completely different panel of readers and judges.
31 October 2015
Final submission date for Short Story Prize.  All writers are welcome (you do not have to have taken up the earlier opportunity to be eligible to enter the Prize).