The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, is a leading award for fiction that was first awarded in 1987. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation working in the 53 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The aim of the Prize is to encourage new Commonwealth fiction, and to ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation that was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1965, the same year as its sister organisation, the Commonwealth Secretariat. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is sponsored and administered by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Foundation in the Europe and South Asia and South East Asia and South Pacific regions. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental body working to help civil society organisations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding in Commonwealth countries.

The Commonwealth Writers' Prize is established as a noted annual event in both the media and literary calendar. Since 2006, the regional sections of the Prize have been open for sponsorship and the Canada/ Caribbean and Africa regions are still seeking partners. It is established as a noted annual event in both the media and literary calendar. Last year, the CWP achieved a high level of exposure in both regional and international media. Over the past years media coverage has increased year-on-year and it is expected to continue to do so.

Selection process

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Europe and South Asia, The Caribbean and Canada, and South East Asia and the South Pacific. Entries are first assessed by four regional panels of judges and the selection of the overall winner is made by a distinguished pan-Commonwealth panel. In each of the four regions of the Commonwealth two prizes of £1,000 are awarded: one for the Best Book and one for the Best First Book. The resulting eight regional winners’ books are then judged by the pan-Commonwealth panel. Authors win £10,000 for the overall Best Book and £5,000 for the Best First Book. Writers and judges come together in a final literary programme in a different Commonwealth country each year.

2007 Regional Winners

The eight regional winners for the 2007 Prize were announced in March 2007. The eight regional winners are;

Africa

Best Book: The Native Commissioner, by Shaun Johnson (South Africa), Penguin Books Best First Book: All We Have Left Unsaid, by Maxine Case (South Africa), Kwela Books

Canada and the Caribbean

Best Book: The Friends of Meager Fortune, by David Adams Richards (Canada), Doubleday Canada Best First Book: Vandal Love, by D.Y. Bechard (Canada), Doubleday

Europe and South Asia

Best Book: The Perfect Man, by Naeem Murr (UK), Heinemann Best First Book: In the Country of Men, by Hisham Matar (UK), Viking

South East Asia and South Pacific

Best Book: Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones (New Zealand), Penguin Best First Book: Tuvalu by Andrew O'Connor (Australia), Allen and Unwin

2007 Final Programme and Overall Winners

Each year the final programme of the Prize takes place in a different country. It also rotates around the different Commonwealth regions. The final programme comprises the judging for the overall Prize by the pan-Commonwealth panel and a series of readings and other public events by the regional prize-winning writers, who are all invited to attend.

This year, the final programme was hosted in Jamaica from 20 to 27 May 2007 as part of and in partnership with the Calabash International Literary Festival. The two overall winners were announced at an awards ceremony on the final night of the Calabash Festival. In recent years, the final programme has also been held in Melbourne, Malta, Canada, Scotland, Ghana, and India.

The distinguished 2007 Pan-Commonwealth panel of judges was chaired by Hon Justice Nicholas Hasluck AM (Chair of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize), and comprised of the four regional chairpersons and Colin Channer, organiser and founder of the Calabash Festival. The four regional chairpersons were: Professor Arthur Gakwandi (Africa); Professor Aritha van Herk (Canada and the Caribbean); Professor Angela Smith (Europe and South Asia); and Dr Christine Prentice (South East Asia and South Pacific).

The 2007 Overall Winners are;

• Best Book: Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (New Zealand) • Best First Book: Vandal Lover by D.Y. Béchard(Canada)

Best Book Winners 1987-2007

• 1987 - Olive Senior, Summer Lightning
• 1988 - Festus Iyayi, Heroes
• 1989 - Janet Frame, The Carpathians
• 1990 - Mordecai Richler, Solomon Gursky Was Here
• 1991 - David Malouf, The Great World
• 1992 - Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey
• 1993 - Alex Miller, The Ancestor Game
• 1994 - Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy
• 1995 - Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin
• 1996 - Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
• 1997 - Earl Lovelace, Salt
• 1998 - Peter Carey, Jack Maggs
• 1999 - Murray Bail, Eucalyptus
• 2000 - John Maxwell Coetzee, Disgrace
• 2001 - Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
• 2002 - Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish
• 2003 - Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe
• 2004 - Caryl Phillips, A Distant Shore
• 2005 - Andrea Levy, Small Island
• 2006 - Kate Grenville, The Secret River
• 2007 - Lloyd Jones, Mister Pip

1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Olive Senior (b. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Festus Iyayi (born 1947, in Benin) is a Nigeria writer known for his radical and sometimes revolutionary stance on social and political issues. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Janet Paterson Frame ONZ, CBE, (August 28, 1924 - January 29, 2004) was the New Zealand author of eleven novels, four collections of short stories, a book of poetry, a childrens book, and a three volume autobiography. ... The Carpathians is a novel by Janet Frame published in 1989. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... Mordecai Richler, CC (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian author, screenwriter and essayist. ... Solomon Gursky Was Here is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler first published Viking Canada in 1989. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... David Malouf David Malouf (born March 20, 1934) in Brisbane is an Australian writer whose themes encompass Australian history and the Australian landscape. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Rohinton Mistry (born July 3, 1952) is considered to be one of the foremost authors of South Asian origin writing in English. ... Such a Long Journey (1991) is a novel by Rohinton Mistry. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Alexander McPhee Miller (born December 27, 1936) is an Australian novelist. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Vikram Seth (pronounced ), born June 20, 1952 is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, childrens writer, biographer and memoirist. ... A Suitable Boy is a novel by Vikram Seth. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Louis de Bernières (born London, UK on December 8, 1954) is a British novelist. ... Spoiler warning: Captain Corellis Mandolin is a novel by Louis de Bernières. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Rohinton Mistry (born July 3, 1952) is considered to be one of the foremost authors of South Asian origin writing in English. ... A Fine Balance is the second book by Rohinton Mistry. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Earl Lovelace (born July 13, 1935) in Toco, Trinidad and Tobago) is a writer and playwright from the West Indies. ... Salt is a novel by British science fiction author Adam Roberts. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Peter Philip Carey (born May 7, 1943) is an Australian novelist. ... Jack Maggs (1998) is a novel by Peter Carey. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Murray Bail (born 1941) is an Australian author. ... Eucalyptus is a novel by Australian novelist Murray Bail. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Maxwell Coetzee (IPA pronunciation: ; born 9 February 1940), often called J.M. Coetzee, is a South African author (now living in Australia) and academic. ... Disgrace (1999) is a novel by South African author J. M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature; the book itself won the Booker Prize in 1999, the year in which it was published. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Peter Philip Carey (born May 7, 1943) is an Australian novelist. ... True History of the Kelly Gang is a crime fiction novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Richard Flanagan (born 1961) is an author, historian and film director from Tasmania, Australia. ... Goulds Book of Fish is a 2001 novel by Richard Flanagan, based on the history of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on the West Coast of Tasmania. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Austin Ardinel Chesterfield Clarke, CM , O.Ont (born 26 July 1934) is a Canadian novelist, essayist and short story writer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Caryl Phillips (born 13 March 1958) is a British writer with a Caribbean background, best known as a novelist. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Andrea Levy is a British author, born in 1956. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Kate Grenville is an Australian novelist. ... The Secret River is a novel written by Kate Grenville in 2005. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Lloyd Jones (born in Lower Hutt, 23 March 1955) is a New Zealand author who currently resides in Wellington. ...

Best First Book Winners 1987-2007

• 1989 - Bonnie Burnard, Women of Influence
• 1990 - John Cranna, Visitors
• 1991 - Pauline Melville, Shape-Shifter
• 1992 - Robert Antoni, Divina Trace
• 1993 - Gita Hariharan, The Thousand Faces of Night
• 1994 - Keith Oatley, The Case of Emily V
• 1995 - Adib Khan, Seasonal Adjustments
• 1996 - Vikram Chandra, Red Earth, Pouring Rain
• 1997 - Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on your Knees
• 1998 - Tim Wynveen, Angel Falls
• 1999 - Kerri Sakamoto, The Electrical Field
• 2000 - Jeffrey Moore, Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain
• 2001 - Zadie Smith, White Teeth
• 2002 - Manu Herbstein, Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade
• 2003 - Sarah Hall, Haweswater
• 2004 - Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
• 2005 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus
• 2006 - Mark McWatt, Suspended Sentences: Fictions of Atonement
• 2007 - DY Bechard, Vandal Love

1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bonnie Burnard (born January 15, Canadian novelist who lives in London, Ontario. ... MCMXC redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pauline Melville (Born 1948) is a Guyanese-born writer and actress. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Robert Antoni (born 1958) is a West Indian writer who was born in the United States of Trinidadian parents and grew up largely in the Bahamas, where his father practised medicine; he says his fictional world is Corpus Christi, the invented island (based on Trinidad) that he introduced in his... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Vikram Chandra, is an emerging Indian writer who has won awards and critical acclaim for his novel, Red Earth and Pouring Rain, and a collection of short stories, Love & Longing in Bombay. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ann-Marie MacDonald, born in 1958, is a Canadian playwright, novelist, actor and broadcast journalist who lives in Toronto, Ontario. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Tim Wynveen is a Canadian novelist. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Kerri Sakamoto is a Canadian novelist. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Zadie Smith (born October 27, 1975) is an English novelist. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Manu Herbstein is the South African author of Ama, a Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sarah Hall (born December 9, 1951 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a stained glass artist. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mark Haddon Mark Haddon (born 1962 in Northampton) is a novelist, who was educated at Uppingham School and Merton College, Oxford, where he studied English. ... The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a novel written by Mark Haddon that won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born in 1977) is a Nigerian writer. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Mark McWatt (born 1947) is a Guyanese writer and educator. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

See also

• List of literary awards
• List of British literary awards

This is a list of literary awards from around the world: // Nobel Prize in Literature Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for childrens and youth literature. ... A list of British literary awards: Booker Prize British Book Awards -- the Nibbies Commonwealth Writers Prize Duff Cooper Prize Hawthornden Prize Hessell-Tiltman Prize John Llewellyn Rhys Prize Orange Prize for Fiction Samuel Johnson Prize Somerset Maugham Award Whitbread Awards Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize Bridport Prize Cholmondeley Award Eric Gregory...

External links

• http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/
• http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com