On 2nd June 2020, Kritika Pandey, a 29-year-old Indian Writer from Ranchi, was announced as the winner of regional award for Asia in 2020 Commonwealth short story prize for her story “The Great Indian Tee and Snakes” – about love in an age of hatred and prejudice.
About Kritika Pandey
Education: She is currently doing her MFA degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Awards and Scholarship:
i.She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and twice she has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth short story Prize.
ii.She received the Elizabeth George Foundation Grant for 2020 and won the 2020 James W Foley Memorial Award.
iii.She won the Harvey Swados Fiction Prize and The Cara Parravani Memorial Award in 2018
iv.At the University of Edinburgh she got the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship for Creative Writing in 2014.
Commonwealth Short Story Prize:
i.This award is for the unpublished best short fiction from the Commonwealth nations, administered by the Commonwealth Writer, a cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation in various languages and also the English translated versions.
Eligibility: Citizens of Commonwealth nations aged 18 and above are eligible for this Prize.
Prize: The award is awarded to the five regional winners and the overall winner is selected among them.
Regional Award – £2,500(Rs.2.4 Lakh)
Overall Award – £5,000(Rs 4.7 Lakh)
Note: The winning stories will be published in the literary magazine “Granta” and The overall winner for the 2020 Commonwealth short story will be announced on June 30.
Other Regional Winners:
Africa: Innocent Chizaram Ilo(Nigerian) for When a Woman Renounces Motherhood
Canada and Europe: Reyah Martin (British) for Wherever Mister Jensen Went
Caribbean: Brian S Heap (Jamaican) for Mafootoo
Pacific: Andrea E Macleod(Australian) for The Art of Waving
About Commonwealth Writers:
Programme Manager – Janet Steel
Senior Programme Officer – Emma D’Costa
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
