Commonwealth Short Story Prize (CSSP) has published the second issue of shortlisted stories from the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize on adda. The issue features “Bitter Water Village” by M.S. Bhatia (Australia), “Fighting Elsewhere” by Rupsa Dey (India), “The God Under the Bed” by Nigerian writer Dawn Immanuel, and “Pom Pom Peedeem Pom” by Jason Dookeran (Trinidad and Tobago). All four writers are first-time shortlisted authors.
The issue follows the first collection of 2026 shortlisted stories, which featured “No Spark in Mafiz’s Relationship” by Shazed ul Hoq Khan Abir (Bangladesh), “The Metamorphosis of Miss Alice” by Cosmata Lindie (Guyana), “Thirty-One Steps” by Rafaa Dalvi (India), and “Saudade” by Alison Armstrong (UK).
Established in 2012, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (CSSP) celebrates unpublished short fiction from across the Commonwealth, with winners selected from five regions: Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. In 2026, Lisa-Anne Julien won the Africa region for “Me and Ma’am,” Sharon Aruparayil won Asia for “Mehendi Nights,” John Edward DeMicoli won Canada and Europe for “The Bastion’s Shadow,” Jamir Nazir won the Caribbean for “The Serpent in the Grove,” and Holly Ann Miller won the Pacific for “Second Skin.
Click the link below to read the stories on adda.
https://www.addastories.org/collection/issue-2-cssp_2026
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