2006 COMMONWEALTH WRITERS PRIZE Shortlists

THE shortlists for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize for four regions were announced on January 23, 2006. The regional winners will be announced on February 6, 2006, while the overall winners will be announced on March 14, 2006.

Canada and Caribbean
Best Book
Carnival / Robert Antoni
A Perfect Pledge / Rabindranath Maharaj
Sylvanus Now / Donna Morrissey
Alligator / Lisa Moore
A Wall of Light / Edeet Ravel
A Map of Glass / Jane Urquhart


Best First Book
The City Man / Howard Akler
George and Rue / George Clarke
Limbo / Jacqueline Honnet
John Crow’s Devil / Marlon James
Suspended Sentences: Fictions of Atonement / Mark McWatt

Southeast Asia and South Pacific
Best Book
March / Geraldine Brooks
Grace / Robert Drewe
The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers / Delia Falconer
Blindsight / Maurice Gee
The Secret River / Kate Grenville
Surrender / Sonya Hartnett
Sandstone / Stephen Lacey
The Ballad of Desmond Kale / Roger McDonald
The Marsh Birds / Eva Sallis
The Book Thief / Markus Zusak

Best First Book
Winter Journey / Diane Armstrong
The Harmony Silk Factory / Tash Aw
The Patron Saint of Eels / Gregory Day
An Accidental Terrorist / Steven Lang
The Grasshopper Shoe / Carolyn Leach-Paholski
Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs / Linda Olsson
A Red Silk Sea / Gillian Ransfead
Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living / Carrie Tiffany
Affection / Ian Townsend
Road Story / Julienne van Loon

Eurasia
Best Book
Arthur & George / Julian Barnes
The Morning Rides Behind Us / Tariq Goddard
Desertion / Abdulrazak Gurnah
A Long Way Down / Nick Hornby
Never Let Me Go / Kazuo Ishiguro
Beyond Black / Hilary Mantel
Journey to the End of the Whale / John David Morley
Dancing in the Dark / Caryl Phillips
Rules for Old Men Waiting / Peter Pouncey
On Beauty / Zadie Smith
Shalimar the Clown / Salman Rushdie

Best First Book
The Family Tree / Carole Cadwalladr
Incendiary / Chris Cleave
Lazy Eye / Donna Daley-Clarke
26A / Diana Evans
Piggy Monk Square / Grace Joliffe
Utterly Monkey / Nick Laird
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian / Marina Lewycka
The Icarus Girl / Helen Oyeyemi
Misfortune / Wesley Stace
Q and A / Vikas Swarup

Africa
Best Book
Praying Mantis / Andre Brink
Slow Man / J.M. Coetzee
The Typewriter’s Tale / Michiel Heyns
The Sun by Night / Benjamin Kwayke
The Whale Caller / Zakes Mda

Best First Book
Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe / Doreen Baingana
Repeat Performance / Angie Herrmann
Beasts of No Nation / Uzodinma Iweala