The regional winners of the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize
have been announced with Australian author, Michael Sala, named the
winner of the Pacific region for his book, The
Last Thread.
The Commonwealth Book Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story
Prize act as catalysts to target and identify talented writers, and
to create environments where alliances of writers in remote places
and those with limited or no publishing infrastructure, can
flourish. Each regional winner has been granted £2500 in prize
money.
You can read more about the prize here.
Here is the full list of winners:
Africa - Sterile Sky by E.E. Sule (Nigeria)
As
the gifted young Murtala comes of age in Kano, violent riots and
his family’s own woes threaten to erase all he holds dear. Stalked
by monsters real and imagined, desperate to preserve a sense of
self and the future, Murtala hunts for answers in the wreckage of
the city – and gives us a unique insight into modern life in
northern Nigeria.
About the author:
E.E. Sule is the pen-name of Dr. Sule E. Egya who is an
associate professor in Department of English, Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida University, Lapai, Nigeria. His poems, short stories, and
critical work have appeared in numerous journals, anthologies and
literary magazines. Sterile Sky is his first novel.
Asia - Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi
Munaweera (Sri Lanka)
Island
of a Thousand Mirrors follows the fate of two families, one
Tamil, one Sinhala as they straddle opposite sides of the long and
brutal Sri Lankan civil war.
Narrated by the eldest daughter of each family, the story
explores how each woman negotiates war, migration, love, exile, and
belonging. At its root, it’s a story of a fragmented nation
struggling to find its way to a new beginning.
About the author:
Nayomi Munaweera is a Sri Lankan-American author and artist.
Having migrated to Nigeria when she was very young and later to
America, she continued visiting Sri Lanka regularly, witnessing the
devastation wrought upon her country of birth by civil war. These
experiences led her to write her first novel, Island of a
Thousand Mirrors, which was published by the Perera Hussein
Publishing House in late 2012.
Canada and Europe - The
Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell (United Kingdom)
Two
young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious
death of their parents.
Marnie and her little sister Nelly are on their own now.
Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and
they aren’t telling. While life in Glasgow’s Hazlehurst housing
estate isn’t grand, they do have each other. Besides, it’s only one
year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take
care of them both.
As the new year comes and goes, Lennie, the old man next
door, realizes that his young neighbours are alone and need his
help. Or does he need theirs? But he’s not the only one who
suspects something isn’t right. Soon, the sisters’ friends, their
other neighbours, the authorities, and even Gene’s nosy drug dealer
begin to ask questions. As one lie leads to another, dark secrets
about the girls’ family surface, creating complications that
threaten to tear them apart.
About the author:
Lisa O’Donnell won the Orange Screenwriting Prize in 2000 for
her screenplay The Wedding Gift. Recently she took a break from
screenwriting when she moved to LA with her two children. Her debut
novel, The Death of Bees was published in 2012.
Caribbean - Disposable
People by Ezekel Alan (Jamaica)
Ten
year old Kenneth Lovelace often went to bed without dinner. Instead
of feeling hunger, however, what he mostly felt was fear and shame,
knowing that his family’s poverty was the reason he had no
food.
Kenneth also recalls his bitterness whenever his parents
locked him out of their tiny, one-room house to act on their
‘urge’. This was in the 1970s, when Jamaica’s socialist regime was
dragging the country into bankruptcy, and when an Old Timer had
told him that he was cursed since birth.
Beginning with his earliest memories, Disposable People
traces the life of Kenneth Lovelace, now a consultant living in
the USA. After a string of failed marriages, bad relationships and
other misfortunes, Kenneth looks back at his life in his old,
hateful village with hopes of finding the roots of his latest
tragedy. What comes out is a story of mischief and adventures, sex,
prejudice, evil spirits, adversities and, progressively,
violence.
About the author:
Ezekel Alan was born and raised in rural Jamaica and spent his
formative years under the Socialist regime of the 1970s. He
currently lives with his wife and kids in an architecturally
noteworthy house in Asia, has a good, reliable dog and a
satisfyingly abundant supply of sweet, juicy mangoes. Inspired by
true events, Disposable People is Ezekel’s debut novel. He
is currently working on his second.
Pacific - The
Last Thread by Michael Sala (Australia)
The
Last Thread is Michael Sala’s fascinating life in fiction. From
his early years in the Netherlands to growing up in Australia
during the 1980s, Michael recalls the secret surrounding his
estranged Greek father and how scandalous events from the past
fractured his family.
This is a moving chronicle of a boy’s turbulent relationship
with his bullying stepfather, aloof older brother and adored
mother, whose cheerful apathy has devastating consequences. As his
life unfolds, Michael – now a father – must decide if he can free
himself from the dark pull of the past.
Reminiscent of the great autobiographical novels of JM
Coetzee and Michael Ondaatje, The Last Thread is a
beautifully crafted work from an exceptional new writer.
About the author:
Michael Sala is an Australian writer and teacher. His short
fiction has been published in various anthologies, including
The Best Australian Stories three times. In 2007, he was
shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel Literary Award. The Last
Thread, published by Affirm Press in 2012, is his first
novel.
You can read more about the regional winners here.
The judging panel, which included our very own Books
Division Manager Martin Shaw, will announce an overall winner on
May 31 to receive £10,000 in prize money.