Ghanaian writer, Azags Agandaa has been shortlisted for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Azags is one of five African writers being considered for the prize with his story Fadi’—a piece about grief, disability, homelessness, and love.
Before this current milestone, Azags had written a collection of short stories and poems. His 2019 ‘The Slummer’s Curse’ won the Ama Ata Aidoo Award and 2nd Prize in the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) Literary Awards. In 2022, his poetry collection, ‘Aguriboma’, won the Kofi Awoonor’s Prize for the same literary awards.
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The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth’s 56 member states. The prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation. Regional winners receive £2,500 GBP, and the overall winner receives £5,000 GBP. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink.
The stories on the 2024 shortlist were selected from a total of 7,359 entries from 53 Commonwealth countries—a 10% increase compared to 2023.
The Africa shortlist includes writers from South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, and Rwanda for the first time. All but one have never been shortlisted before. The stories feature well-written characters, including a pensioner reflecting on forbidden love and a football-mad young boy.
