Faria Basher named Asia Regional Winner of Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Faria Basher, a writer from Bangladesh, has been announced as one of the five Regional Winners for this year's Commonwealth Short Story Prize. After being shortlisted for the award earlier this year for her story "An Eye and a Leg", Basher has become the first writer of Bangladeshi origin to win the Asian regional prize.
The winning story, 'An Eye and a Leg', centres on an unmarried woman in her mid-thirties whose body begins to "spontaneously disintegrate". Alarmed, her parents turn to a doctor who advises them to take her to the "Marriage Market" in search of a cure. It is a surreal and darkly comic exploration of the trope of the "expiring" South Asian woman.
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Basher, a 25-year-old writer drawn to the offbeat, the absurd, and the odd, said, "Throughout time, I've seen how women across the world experience pressure and social conditioning to marry and bear children, and this is especially heightened in South Asian cultures, often dangerously so. I can't say I've been able to completely avoid it myself. Through my story, I really wanted to highlight how ridiculous it is when we say that a woman is 'past her prime', or 'losing value'. It's such an absurd way of thinking that I knew I had to use absurdism to tell this story, along with elements of the macabre, and of course, humour."
She was also appreciative of the prize itself, adding, "I think that for many writing competitions, there's an unspoken requirement to tone down or dilute certain cultural contexts and themes. But for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, I felt fully comfortable incorporating the South Asian thematic elements that my work required in order to be effective. These were crucial to the story I was telling and the message I was trying to get across."
'An Eye and a Leg' juxtaposes societal expectations with those of an individual woman, delivering a massive punch from the very first lines. Quietly, without hysterics, without playing to victimhood, this satire, absurd and hilarious in turn, widens our awareness of the lack of agency for a woman, whoever she is. It is one of the best crafted stories I have read in the competition.
Malaysian author Saras Manickam, who won the Asia regional prize in 2019 and served as this year's judge for the Asian region, remarked, "However accomplished or educated (or even happy) she is, a woman is considered 'handicapped' if she is not married. On that societal premise, 'An Eye and a Leg' juxtaposes societal expectations with those of an individual woman, delivering a massive punch from the very first lines. Quietly, without hysterics, without playing to victimhood, this satire, absurd and hilarious in turn, widens our awareness of the lack of agency for a woman, whoever she is. It is one of the best crafted stories I have read in the competition."
The other regional winners are "Mothers Not Appearing in Search" by Joshua Lubwama from Uganda (Africa), "Descend" by Chanel Sutherland from Canada/Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Canada & Europe), "Margot's Run" by Subraj Singh from Guyana (Caribbean), and "Crab Sticks and Lobster Rolls" Kathleen Ridgwell from Australia.
The Chair of the Judges for this year's competition, award-winning writer and filmmaker, Professor Dr Vilsoni Hereniko, said in a congratulatory message, "These stories illuminate many aspects of human nature and demonstrate true mastery of the short story form. Each tale shows that geography matters in storytelling. They are works of fiction that are inseparable from the local culture and history from which they have sprung. They have colour and emotional resonance—and they moved me deeply."
The £5000 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually by the Commonwealth Foundation for the best unpublished short story, ranging between 2,000 and 5,000 words, written by an author from a Commonwealth nation. Regional winners receive £2,500. The prize is open to anyone aged 18 or older, and entries are accepted in a wide range of languages, such as Bangla, Chinese, Creole, English, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish. Submissions translated to English are also accepted. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper+Ink.
The overall winner for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2025 will be announced in an online ceremony on 25 June, 2025.
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