Zambian writer Ellen Banda-Aaku has won the 2007 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for her story ‘Sozi's Box'.

The story, which was chosen as the best story from the Africa region of the Commonwealth, was selected for the overall prize, worth £2000 (A$4500) from more than 2000 entries.

Banda-Aaku said that she hoped her win would inspire other African writers to enter the competition. ‘I'm encouraged to write more about human behaviour and culture, and by doing so hope to heighten our conscience and raise questions about how we deal with the experiences and challenges life throws our way,' she said.

The other regional winners were UK writer Emily Pedder in the Europe region for ‘Days Are Long', New Zealand writer Catherine Palmer in the Australia and the Pacific region for ‘Bushwoman', Canadian Sarah Ceridwen Totton in the Canada and the Caribbean region for ‘The Man with the Seahorse Head' and Indian writer Hema S Raman in the Asia region for ‘Where Do I Belong?'

Six Australian writers--Eunice Tan (‘In Transit'), Robert Carter (‘Heaven'), Bruce Riddell (‘Do Not Disturb'), David Campbell (‘Zuka's Gift'), Paddy O'Reilly (‘The Passion Fruit') and Ash Rehn (‘The Hook-Up')--were among the 21 entrants to be highly commended in the competition.

The Commonwealth Short Story Competition, established in 1996, is funded by the Commonwealth Foundation.

This article from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker