The African regional winner of the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The story quietly stages the distance inside a family and the friction created by values brought in from outside.

Outside pressure seeps into the intimacy of family life.

This allegorical short story follows a man who owns nothing but an umbrella as he moves from an asylum toward freedom. Reality and symbolism overlap, making solitude and release emerge at once.

A man who refuses to let go of his umbrella quietly reopens the question of what freedom means.

The Canada/Europe regional winner of the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Through a separated couple’s reunion, the story captures the feel of memory and distance.

After a long absence, how do spouses see each other again?

Set against Caribbean society, this short story traces the emotional knots around forgiveness and survival. An individual story and a community history overlap throughout.

Forgiveness and survival are placed at the center of the story with equal weight.

A short story where the sea and family memory intersect. Work that has continued in a faraway place is suddenly passed on to the next generation after an unexpected event.

A family history is handed on to the next generation through work by the sea.