2007 Commonwealth Writers Prize: Shortlists

AFRICA

Best Book
Native Commissioner / Shaun Johnson (South Africa), Penguin Books
What Kind of Child / Ken Barris (South Africa), Kwela Books
Half of a Yellow Sun / Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria), HarperCollins
The Wizard of the Crow / Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya), Random House U.K.
Playing in the Light / Zoe Wicomb (South Africa), Umuzi
Song of the Atman / Ronnie Govender (South Africa), Jacana

Best First Book
All We Have Left Unsaid / Maxime Case (South Africa), Kwela Books
Ice in the Lungs / Gerald Kraak (South Africa), Jacana
A Life Elsewhere / Segun Afolabi (Nigeria), Jonathan Cape
Room 207 / Kgebeti Moele (South Africa), Kwela Books
The Beggar’s Sign Writer / Louis Greenberg (South Africa), Umuzi
The Shadow Follows / David Medalie (South Africa), Picador Africa

CANADA & THE CARIBBEAN

Best Book
The Law of Dreams / Peter Behrens (Canada), House of Anansi Press
Chutney Power / Willi Chen (Trinidad), Macmillan Caribbean
Fabrizio’s Return / Mark Frutkin (Canada), Knopf Canada
The Emperor’s Children / Claire Messud (Canada), Picador
The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades / Nega Mezlekia (Canada), Penguin Group (Canada)
The View from Castle Rock / Alice Munro (Canada), Chatto and Windus
The Friends of Meager Fortune / David Adams Richards (Canada), Doubleday Canada

Best First Book
Baby Khaki’s Wings / Anar Ali (Canada), Viking
Vandal Love / D.Y. Bechard (Canada), Doubleday
De Niro’s Game / Rawi Hage (Canada), House of Anansi Press
The Fear of Stones / Kei Miller (Jamaica), Macmillan Caribbean
Indigenous Beasts / Nathan Sellyn (Canada), Raincoast Books
The Hour of Bad Decisions / Russell Wangersky (Canada), Coteau Books

EUROPE & SOUTH ASIA

Best Book
Sacred Games / Vikram Chandra (India), Penguin
Miss Webster and Chérif / Patricia Duncker (UK), Bloomsbury
The Sweet and Simple Kind / Yasmine Gooneratne (Sri Lanka), Perera Hussein
Carry Me Down / M.J. Hyland (UK), Canongate
Black Swan Green / David Mitchell (UK), Sceptre
The Perfect Man / Naeem Murr (UK), Heinemann
The Testament of Gideon Mack / James Robertson (UK), Hamish Hamilton

Best First Book
The Saffron Kitchen / Yasmin Crowther (UK) Abacus/Little Brown
The Mathematics of Love / Emma Darwin (UK) Headline/Review
This Time of Dying / Reina James (UK) Portobello
Giraffe / J.M. Ledgard (UK), Jonathan Cape
Londonstani / Gautam Malkani (UK), Fourth Estate
In the Country of Men / Hisham Matar (UK), Viking
The Amnesia Clinic / James Scudamore (UK), Harvill Secker

SOUTHEAST ASIA & SOUTH PACIFIC

Best Book
Ocean Roads / James George (New Zealand), Huia
Theft: A Love Story / Peter Carey (Australia), Knopf/Random House
Mister Pip / Lloyd Jones (New Zealand), Penguin
Carpentaria / Alexis Wright (Australia), Giramondo
The Fainter / Damien Wilkins (New Zealand), Victoria University Press
Red Spikes / Margo Lanagan (Australia), Allen and Unwin
Careless / Deborah Robertson (Australia), Picador

Best First Book
Tuvalu / Andrew O’Connor (Australia), Allen and Unwin
Davey Darling / Paul Shannon (New Zealand), Penguin
The Fish & Chip Song / Carl Nixon (New Zealand), Vintage
The Long Road of the Junkmailer / Patrick Holland (Australia), University of Queensland Press
Poinciana / Jane Turner Goldsmith (Australia), Wakefield

The overall best book and best first book winners will be announced on May 27, 2007