The Tribune

A BAHAMIAN is among 21 short story writers selected by an international judging panel to be in the running for a global literature prize.

The writers – 15 women and six men – come from 16 countries, including, for the first time, Tanzania, Zambia, Malaysia, Cyprus, and Barbados. The youngest is 20, the oldest 80.

Bahamian writer Alexia Tolas’ short story “Granma’s Porch” earned her a spot on the Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist. Her story tells the tale of Helana who was abandoned by her father on her grandmother’s porch and later fumbles along the delicate border between adolescence and adulthood, guided by the past traumas of her friends and family and her troubled first love.

Ms Tolas was born and raised in The Bahamas. Her writing explores the intricacies of small-island life, particularly from the female perspective. She draws heavily on local folktales and mythologies in order to convey realities silenced by tradition and trauma. She is a graduate of the former College of the Bahamas and currently teaches Literature.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from the Commonwealth. It is the only prize in the world where entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, English, Greek, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish.

The shortlist was chosen from 5,081 entries from 50 Commonwealth countries, and includes two translations into English, one from Greek and one from Malay.

Chair of the judges, British novelist Caryl Phillips, said: “These authors have dared to imagine into the lives of an amazingly wide range of characters and their stories explore situations that are both regional and universal.”