Comma Press

DINESH ALLIRAJAH PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION - Winner Announced! 🎉✍ We are pleased to announce author @matgrowcott as winner of this year’s Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction for his story ‘In His Life. "I was so thrilled to be shortlisted, the thought of winning barely entered my mind. I could have fallen off my chair when my name was announced..." - Mat Growcott “We admired the careful control of tone and exposition, the elegant structure, and the writer's unflinching attention to the complications of the story's central relationship...” – Prize Judges This year’s shortlist was incredibly competitive, with the judges enjoying each story immensely. Runners up for the 2026 Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction are: Louisa Hann – ‘The Jumper’: “A standout short story which takes the idea of fandom and flips it into something unique. In little over 5,000 words the writer explores fame, adolescence and notions of accepted girlhood with truth, warmth and humour.” Alison Armstrong – ‘Jack Be Nimble’: “A beautiful, lyrical story that builds to a fiery crescendo. I was deeply moved by the bond between the main character and the calf he raises. Foot and mouth disease was such a formative part of people’s experiences back in 2001, and this story hauntingly captures the impact of that earlier pandemic on people and animals.” A massive Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors: Mat Growcott, Louisa Hann, Alison Armstrong, @dhartleywriter , @shekinarose , @ben_daggers and @ruthannereads . The public prize-giving took place online on May 6th and included readings from the winning story and feedback from the judges panel, featuring last year's winning author Edward Hogan, Editor-in-Chief of the @newnottinghamjournal @andrewtuckerleavis , Comma Press author @luangoldie and poet Dr @yvonnereddickwriter of the @unilancashire . Growcott will receive the grand prize of £500, and all 7 stories will be published in a Comma Press eBook to be released later this month. #dineshallirajah #dineshprize #writingcompetitions #writingawards #writingprizes #shortstories #shortfiction #writersofig #writersofinsta #writingcommunity #amwriting #writersofinstagram

EMERGING TRANSLATOR PRIZE WINNER ANNOUNCED 🎉 Comma Press are pleased to announce translator ANDREW RULE as the winner of the Emerging Translator Prize 2026. A massive congratulations as well to runners up Christoph Zhang & Eileen Holland. Andrew will be translating a story by Zhao Haihong for China + 100, an anthology of Chinese speculative fiction edited by Xueting Li & scheduled for publication this Summer. “I'm honoured to have been selected as the winner of this competition, and I'm so glad that I'll get to finish translating the Zhao Haihong story for the China + 100 anthology. I've been reading all of Comma Press's China anthologies since I was in college, not to mention Xueting's Sinopticon and Sinophagia anthologies, so this is a thrill for me.” – Andrew Rule Now held in partnership with @oxford.translates after 5 years with the university of Bristol, this annual competition is aimed at early-career translators. “We’re delighted that Andrew will be able to continue his work on Zhao Haihong’s story for China + 100, and will be looking out for Christoph and Eileen’s work when it inevitably hits bookshelves.” – Ra Page Andrew Rule is the winner of the 2023 Bai Meigui Translation Competition, he has translated literary works by Hung Ai-chu, Sabrina Huang, & Liang Hong. Since 2024, he has written the Cold Window Newsletter, a resource for publishers & translators about new Chinese fiction. Andrew is the Operations Manager of @paper_republic a UK-based translation charity. Christoph Zhang is a literary translator and attorney based in New York City. He translates contemporary fiction and poetry from Chinese into English. Eileen Holland holds an MA in translation and has worked as an in-house and freelance translator for various government, non-government and international organizations. She translates from Chinese, Dutch and French into English and is currently participating in the Dutch Centre of Expertise for Literary Translation’s 2026 mentorship program for emerging literary translators.

FOLKTALES: Short Story Course with @sophieparkeswriter 🐉✍ 🎫 Tickets in bio 📌 Online via Zoom 📅 June 23 - Sep 1 ABOUT THE COURSE ✍ Folk tales: fairytales, wonder tales, Märchen, memorates, contemporary legends, fables, myths. There are many different types of traditional narrative – or folk tale – and they evolve and adapt to remain captivating through the ages. Folk tales are compelling source material for creative writers, too. How can prose so deceptively simple continue to enthral us as children, as adults, as warnings, as entertainment? How do they tell us what it is to be human? In this short course, you will work on your own short fiction while learning about the different forms of folk tale. We will discuss what makes folk tales so effective, and how we might use them in our own works of fiction. We will think about cultural heritage and how to treat works of anonymity. We will read, write, and share ideas. With expert guidance from author @sophieparkeswriter , you will work on two or three short stories, with your favourite published in a Comma Press ebook. 🎫 Tickets £180 Bursary discounts available for underrepresented writers or those on low income. Email commapublishing(at)yahoo.com to apply, or book without Eventbrite fees. 📌 WHEN & WHERE? Online Via Zoom. 6.30-8.30pm Tuesdays: June 23 July 14, 28 August 11, 25 September 1 #folklore #folktales #fairytales #creativewriting #writingcourse #shortstories #mythology #writinggroups #onlinewritinggroups #writersofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #authorsofinsta #amwriting

Many thanks to UCL's European Institute for the opportunity to present The Book of Bratislava at the symposium Plots, Paths, Polyphony: Writing and Mapping European Cities. And thanks for Tim Beasley-Murray for chairing and sharing his insights.

#onthisday in 1948 over 750’000 Palestinians were killed or displaced and over 500 villages were destroyed during the formation of the state of Israel. This campaign of ethnic cleansing, underpinning the entire conflict and the ongoing genocide, became known as the #nakba - the catastrophe. In Palestine - 1 and Palestine + 100, Palestinian authors use the Nakba as a fixed point to project back and forward through time, through horror, speculative fiction and magical realist means. #nakba #nakbaday #palestine #freepalesti̇ne #freepalestine🇵🇸

The 78th anniversary of the Nakba is just around the corner. The annual event commemorates the forced displacement, ethnic cleansing and massacre of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 - all of which led to the creation of the state of Israel. These books help tell the story of the Nakba through history, memory and personal experience, offering readers a way to better understand and contextualise Palestine beyond the headlines. What other book(s) do you think should be added to this list?

#OnThisDay in 2019 Former President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir is charged in connection with the deaths of 7 at women-lead protests in Khartoum the month prior. One of the leading voices in Sudanese lit, @raniamamoun 's 'Thirteen Months of Sunrise' captures the hardship that sparked this moment, while 'The Book of Khartoum' explores the rich literature of this meeting point between worlds. Keep an eye out for @raniamamoun 's new collection 'Under the Neem Tree' out this winter! 👀🌳 Links to books in bio ☝ 13 MONTHS OF SUNRISE 🌄 A young woman sits by her father’s deathbed, lamenting her failure to keep a promise to him… A struggling writer walks every inch of the city in search of inspiration, only to find it is much closer than she imagined… A girl collapses from hunger at the side of the road and is rescued by the most unlikely of saviours... In this powerful, debut collection of stories, Rania Mamoun expertly blends the real and imagined to create a rich, complex and moving portrait of contemporary Sudan. From painful encounters with loved ones to unexpected new friendships, Mamoun illuminates the breadth of human experience and explores, with humour and compassion, the alienation, isolation and estrangement that is urban life. Translated from the Arabic by @lissiejaquette WINNER of a PEN Translates Award. 📙 THE BOOK OF KHARTOUM (Eds @raphaelcormack & @maxshmookler ) *FEATURING THE WINNER OF THE @caineprize 2017* Khartoum takes its name from the Beja word for ‘meeting place’. The city is certainly that: a joining of the Blue & White Niles, a confluence of Arabic & African histories, & a destination point for countless refugees displaced by Sudan’s long history of forced migration. Diverse literary styles also come together here: the political satire of Ahmed al-Malik; the surrealist poetics of Bushra al-Fadil; the social realism of the first postcolonial authors; and the lyrical abstraction of the new ‘Iksir’ generation. As with any great city, it is from these complex tensions that the best stories begin. #sudan #sudanese #sudanrevolts #sudanuprising #khartoum #khartoum_sudan #books #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksofig #booksofinsta

BOYCOTTING #eurovision? Read these instead! 📚 From women-penned short stories, plays & essays on the future of Europe, to anthologies bringing together voices from across national & linguistic borders, & countries demonised by bigoted Western leaders, these collections channel the supposed European ideals of peace and international solidarity that Eurovision claims to represent. 📚🔗 LINKS IN BIO, or visit Commapress.co.uk/books for more Europa28 📕 Europe needs to be fixed, or at the least seriously rethought. The clamour of rising nationalism – alongside widespread feelings of disenfranchisement – needs to be addressed if the dreams of social cohesion, European integration, perhaps even democracy are to be preserved. This anthology brings together 28 acclaimed women writers, artists, scientists and entrepreneurs from across the continent to offer new perspectives on the future of Europe, and how it might be rebuilt. Featuring essays, fictions and short plays, Europa28 asks what it means to be European today and demonstrates – with clarity and often humour – how women really do see things differently. Banthology 📘 In January 2017, President Trump signed an executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – from entering the United States, effectively slamming the door on refugees seeking safety and tearing families apart. Banthology brings together stories from the original seven ‘banned nations’. Covering a range of approaches – from satire, to allegory, to literary realism – it explores the emotional and personal impact of all restrictions on movement, and offers a platform to voices the White House would rather remained silent. All Walls Collapse 📗 The history of walls – as a way to keep people in or out – is also the history of people managing to get around, over and under them. A specially-commissioned anthology to commemorate @englishpen_ 's centenary, & their work advocating for human rights & writers at risk. #eurovision #boycotteurovision #eurovision2026 #eurovision26

FOLKTALES: Short Story Course with @sophieparkeswriter 🐉✍ 🎫 Tickets in bio 📌 Online via Zoom 📅 June 23 - Sep 1 ABOUT THE COURSE ✍ Folk tales, fairytales, wonder tales, Märchen, memorates, contemporary legends, fables, myths. There are many different types of traditional narrative – or folk tale – and they evolve and adapt to remain captivating through the ages. Folk tales are compelling source material for creative writers, too. How can prose so deceptively simple continue to enthral us as children, as adults, as warnings, as entertainment? How do they tell us what it is to be human? In this short course, you will work on your own short fiction while learning about the different forms of folk tale. We will discuss what makes folk tales so effective, and how we might use them in our own works of fiction. We will think about cultural heritage and how to treat works of anonymity. We will read, write, and share ideas. With expert guidance from author @sophieparkeswriter , you will work on two or three short stories, with your favourite published in a Comma Press eBook. 🎫 Tickets £180 Bursary discounts available for underrepresented writers or those on low income. Email commapublishing(at)yahoo.com to apply, or book without Eventbrite fees. 📌 WHEN & WHERE? Online Via Zoom. 6.30-8.30pm Tuesdays: June 23 July 14, 28 August 11, 25 September 1 #folklore #folktales #fairytales #creativewriting #writingcourse #shortstories #mythology #writinggroups #onlinewritinggroups #writersofinstagram #writersofig #authorsofig #authorsofinsta #amwriting

Join us for a celebration of storytelling, writing and critical thinking from the Syrian Capital, in association with @commapress 📖 The Book of Damascus 📖 - Edited by Zaher Omareen Thursday 23rd July, 6pm-8.30pm | @the_bluecoat Damascus is a city of contradictions…✨ Simultaneously the oldest city in the world, rich with Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic architecture, and one of the most modern and developed in the Middle East, it stands at a crossroads between East and West, past and future, peace and war. The latest instalment in Comma’s ‘Reading the City’ series is filled with the perspectives of ordinary Syrians we never read about in the news🗞️ We’d love to invite you to an evening of readings, translations and discussions about the challenges that Damascus has survived and what lies ahead in these most precarious times. We’ll be joined by three speakers – Odai Al-Zoubi, a Syrian short story writer born in Damascus; Zaher Omareen @zomareen , a war correspondent, filmmaker and writer who has worked in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan and Iraq; and Majd Abu Shawish, a Gaza-born, Manchester based translator, poet and writer #LAAF26 #arabarts #commapress #LiverpoolArabArtsFestival

Tonight in Chorlton, Manchester

Thank you Dr Rita Sakr for a brilliant talk at @leedspsg yesterday, 'Narrating Gaza after the Severing,' which drew on the diaries of Atef Abu Saif and the rich history of Palestinian and Arabic literature written in response to the Nakba and in defiance of the Israeli occupation's ongoing attacks on Palestinian people and land, including the genocide in Gaza to which Abu Saif was a witness. Thank you to Dr Sam Durrant and @leedspsg for organising this event. Dr Sakr is publishing a new book 'Arab Displqcements: Experimental Literature, Necropolitics and Decolonial Hauntology' with Edinburgh University Press later this year.