MALAYSIAN author Shih-Li Kow's short story submission titled Relative Distance is among the 28 shortlisted stories for the coveted 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
The shortlist for this year was selected from over 6,600 submissions by an international judging panel. The prize is given yearly to the author of the finest unpublished short story from any of the Commonwealth's member countries.
Kow joins the small pool of Malaysian writers having shortlisted for the prize which includes Ling Low, Adriana Nordin, Lokman Hakim and Saras Manikam who was the first Malaysian to win the prize.
Kow is a well-known figure within Malaysia’s writing fraternity with two books to her name, ‘The Sum of Our Follies’ and ‘Ripples and Other Stories.’
The former was translated into many European languages, subsequently winning the prestigious Prix du Premier Roman Etranger in 2018 while the latter was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.
The Commonwealth Prize shortlist thus comes as another feather in the cap for the 54-year-old author.
Kow’s entry, Relative Distance, tells the story of a man visiting his ageing uncle and learning about their shared history and old conflicts in the few days they spend together.
“The prize is an international platform composed of regional judges. This means that there is genuine consideration given to diverse storytelling styles and voices. It is gratifying of course that my voice, through my story is recognised in this way, especially when there are so many entries,” she said to The Vibes.
“For me, any opportunity to get work out in the world is a 'win' because it is challenging to get exposure when you're not a big-name author published in the US or the UK,” she added.
In her shortlist video published on the Commonwealth Prize official website, she says fictional stories help convey truth that is otherwise difficult to articulate in real life.
"Stories are so important, there is much truth in fiction, there is much that is unsayable in real life, which can be articulated in stories.
"And stories help us learn, help us communicate better, stories help us develop empathy I hope, and stories help us make sense of this crazy changing world.”
Pakistani writer and translator Bilal Tanweer, Jury Chair for this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize said the shortlist “is a concert of voices from across the Commonwealth, showcasing the richness of its writing traditions, histories, and perspectives.
These stories brim with the energy and urgency of the present moment – read them to experience the beat and pulse of contemporary storytelling.”
Echoing Kow’s message, he adds, “These stories perform the essential function of the best fiction: they make us see what we couldn’t see, awaken our sympathies for people we didn’t know, and bring us closer to the world we already inhabit.
"What we see here are writers, who with their varied styles and strategies, stretch our sense of the real.
"These stories, like music, go clean through our gut and spine, filling us with sensations ranging from dysphoric anguish to euphoric laughter, and after reading each story, we wake up to the world, changed.”
Entries range from various genres tackling urgent themes like the climate crisis, to family dramas, grief, and loss to love and friendships. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize, first awarded in 2012, is organised by the Commonwealth Foundation.
Five other judges sit on the panel, each representing the regions of the Commonwealth.
They include Rwandan-born writer, photographer, and editor, Rémy Ngamije (Africa), Sri Lankan author and publisher Ameena Hussein (Asia), British-Canadian author Katrina Best (Canada and Europe), Saint Lucian poet and novelist Mac Donald Dixon (Caribbean) and New Zealand’s former Poet Laureate, Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh (Pacific).
The 2023 shortlisted stories will be published in adda, an online magazine of the Commonwealth Foundation which features new writing from around the globe.
The regional winners will be announced on May 17, before being published online by the literary magazine Granta. The overall winner will be announced on June 27.
Regional winners receive £2,500 (RM13,600) and the overall winner receives £5,000 (RM27,200). – The Vibes, April 5, 2023
