When the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize goes live across 54 countries on the evening of June 30 it will be hosted by Stacy-Ann Smith, a Jamaican communications and media specialist.

The prize, run by the London-based Commonwealth Foundation, is an annual competition open to writers from across the Commonwealth of Nations. Smith, an award-winning writer and published author, is the second Jamaican in recent years to host the online ceremony.

“For me this is such an honour for multiple reasons. It’s a proud moment when you’re asked to step on a global platform, but it’s also a kind of full circle moment for me. I entered the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2022, and my story actually made it to the longlist – the top 200 stories from more than 6,000 writers who entered that year. I didn’t make it to the shortlist, but as far as I was concerned, I was already a winner. The Short Story Prize really boosted my confidence as a writer. It was validation. It was the push I needed to enter other competitions, where my work was also recognised,” said Smith, who published her memoir Time Does Not Heal in 2021.