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Press Release

Sceptre and Phoenix take three places across the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2010 shortlists18/02/2010

The shortlists for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010 were today announced by the The Commonwealth Foundation, on which Hachette titles appear across three of the categories.

Tom Keneally's The People's Train (Sceptre) has been shortlisted for Best Book in the South East Asia and Pacific while Isla Morley’s Come Sunday (Sceptre) has been short listed for the best First Book Award from Africa and An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay (Phoenix) has made the South Asia and Europe Best First Book list.

Mark Collins, Director of the Commonwealth Foundation said: "The Prize aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English and in doing so, spots rising talent and creates new literary figures from the Commonwealth. This is the Prize to watch for tomorrow's best-sellers."

The finalists from each region are announced in early April and the two overall winners will be announced in Delhi, India on April 17.

The regional shortlists are:

Africa
Africa Best Book:

  • Trespass by Dawn Garisch (South Africa)
  • The Double Crown by Marié Heese (South Africa)
  • The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
  • Eyo by Abidemi Sanusi (Nigeria)
  • Tsamma Season by Rosemund Handler (South Africa)
  • Refuge by Andrew Brown (South Africa)
  • Kings of the Water by Mark Behr (South Africa)


Africa Best First Book:

  • I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (Nigeria)
  • The Shape of Him by Gill Schierhout (South Africa)
  • The Shadow of a Smile by Kachi Ozumba (Nigeria)
  • Come Sunday by Isla Morley (South Africa)
  • Sleepers Wake by Alistair Morgan (South Africa)
  • Jelly Dog Days by Erica Emdon (South Africa)
  • Harmattan Rain by Aysha Harunna Attah (Ghana)


Caribbean and Canada
Caribbean and Canada Best Book:

  • The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels (Canada)
  • February by Lisa Moore (Canada)
  • Euphoria by Connie Gault (Canada)
  • Goya's Dog by Damian Tarnopolsky (Canada)
  • Galore by Michael Crummey (Canada)
  • The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (Canada)


Caribbean and Canada Best First Book:

  • Under this Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell (Canada)
  • Daniel O'Thunder by Ian Weir (Canada)
  • The Island Quintet: Five Stories by Raymond Ramchartiar (Trinidad)
  • Diary of Interrupted Days by Dragan Todorovic (Canada)
  • The Briss by Michael Tregebov (Canada)
  • Amphibian by Carla Gunn (Canada)


South Asia and Europe
South Asia and Europe Best Book:

  • Solo by Rana Dasgupta (Britain)
  • For Pepper and Christ: A Novel by Keki Daruwalla (India)
  • The Beijing of Possibilities by Jonathan Tel (Britain)
  • Heartland by Anthony Catwright (Britain)
  • Another Gulmohar Tree by Aamer Hussein (Pakistan)
  • The Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri (India)
South Asia and Europe Best First Book:
  • The Hungry Ghosts by Anne Berry (Britain)
  • Arzee the Dwarf by Chandrahas Choudhury (India)
  • In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Pakistan)
  • Among Thieves by Mez Packer (Britain)
  • An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay (Britain)
  • Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Parkes (Britain)

South East Asia and Pacific
South East Asia and Pacific Best Book:

  • Summertime by J.M Coetzee (Australia)
  • A Good Land by Nada Awar Jarrar (Australia)
  • The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt (Samoa)
  • Singularity by Charlotte Grimshaw (New Zealand)
  • The People's Train by Thomas Keneally (Australia)
  • Parrot and Oliver in America by Peter Carey (Australia)


South East Asia and Pacific Best First Book:

  • The Ice Age by Kirsten Reed (Australia)
  • After the fire, a still small voice by Evie Wyld (Australia)
  • Look Who's Morphing by Tom Cho (Australia)
  • Document Z by Andrew Croome (Australia)
  • Come Inside by Glenys Osborne (Australia)
  • Siddon Rock by Glenda Guest (Australia)