Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book

2011
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
A Man Melting by Craig Cliff

Africa Regional Winner
Happiness is a Four-Letter Word by Cynthia Jele

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Bird Eat Bird by Katrina Best

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Sabra Zoo by Mischa Hiller

2010
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Siddon Rock by Glenda Guest

Africa Regional Winner
I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

2009
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

Africa Regional Winner
Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Year of the Shanghai Shark by Mo Zhi Hong

2008
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

Africa Regional Winner
Imagine This by Sade Adeniran

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
The End of the Alphabet by CS Richardson

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Anatomy of Wings by Karen Foxlee

2007
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Vandal Love by DY Béchard

Africa Regional Winner
All We Have Left Unsaid by Maxine Case

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
In The Country of Men by Hisham Matar

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Tuvalu by Andrew O'Connor

2006
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Suspended Sentences: Fictions of Atonement by Mark McWatt

Africa Regional Winner
Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe by Doreen Baingana

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Lazy Eye by Donna Daley-Clarke

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw

2005
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Africa Regional Winner
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Home by Larissa Behrendt

2004
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Africa Regional Winner
Gardening at Night by Diane Awerbuck

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Madame Proust and the Kosher Kitchen by Kate Taylor

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Somewhere, Home by Nada Awar Jarrar

2003
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Haweswater by Sarah Hall

Africa Regional Winner
Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
The Scent of a Lie by Paulo da Costa

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka

2002
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Africa Regional Winner
Ama by Manu Herbstein

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Martin Sloane by Michael Redhill

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The 18th Pale Descendant by William Muir

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
In the Blue House by Meaghan Delahunt

2001
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Africa Regional Winner
Thirteen Cents by K Sello Duiker

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Burning Ground by Pearl Luke

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Company by Arabella Edge

2000
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain by Jeffrey Moore

Africa Regional Winner
The Legend of the Rockhills and Other Stories by Funso Aiyejina

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The Blue Bedspread by Raj Kamal Jha

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Reconnaissance by Kapka Kassabova

1999
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
The Electrical Field by Kerri Sakamoto

Africa Regional Winner
The Clothes of Nakedness by Benjamin Kwakye

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Difficult Daughters by Manju Kapur

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
In a Fishbone Church by Catherine Chidgey

1998
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Angel Falls by Tim Wynveen

Africa Regional Winner
Dance with a Poor Man's Daughter by Pamela Jooste

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
When Memory Dies by Ambalavaner Sivanandan

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Deadset by Emma Tom

1997
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

Africa Regional Winner
At the Edge and other Cato Manor Stories by Ronnie Govender

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Interesting Facts about the State of Arizona by Jeremy Poolman

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel

1996
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra

Africa Regional Winner
Winds of Change by Dene Coetzee

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Icefields by Thomas Wharton

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Dead Sea Fruit by Charlotte Randall

1995
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Seasonal Adjustments by Adib Khan

Africa Regional Winner
The River and the Source by Margaret A Ogola

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Chorus of Mushrooms by Hiromi Goto

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Newton's Niece by Derek Beaven

1994
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The Case of Emily V by Keith Oatley

Africa Regional Winner
Cry a Whisper by Lucy Safo

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
The Roads are Down by Vanessa Spence

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Mule's Foal by Forini Epanomitis

1993
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The Thousand Faces of Night by Githa Hariharan

Africa Regional Winner
The Price of Liberty by Paul Conton

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Satellite City by Alecia McKenzie

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Praise by Andrew McGahan

1992
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Divina Trace by Robert Antoni

Africa Regional Winner
Grief Child by Lawrence Darmani

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
A Strange and Sublime Address by Amit Chaudhuri

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Word Burners by Beryl Fletcher

1991
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Shape Shifter by Pauline Melville

Africa Regional Winner
Our Wife and Other Stories by Karen King-Aribisala

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernières

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
The Story of the Year of 1912 in the Village of Elza Darzins by Thea Welsh

1990
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Visitors by John Cranna

Africa Regional Winner
The Gunny Sack by MG Vassanji

Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Bone Bird by Darlene Barry Quaife

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
Myself and Marco Polo by Paul Griffiths

1989
Commonwealth Writers Prize: Best First Book
Canada and the Carribean Regional Winner
Women of Influence by Bonnie Burnard

Africa Regional Winner
None

Europe and South Asia Regional Winner
The Trotter-Nama by Allan Sealy

South East Asia and South Pacific Regional Winner
Ride a Cock Horse by Gillian Mears