Chanel Sutherland has been announced as the overall winner of the prestigious 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Her story, Descend, beat 7,920 entrants worldwide to take the £5,000 prize. Chanel was born in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and curretly resides in Canada. Dr Vilsoni Hereniko, the Chair of the 2025 Judging Panel remarks:

‘Told in the quiet voice of a seer, “Descend” is deep and profound. It tells the story of slaves packed like sardines in the hull of a sinking ship, an allegory that affirms the unrivalled power of storytelling to set our spirits free and find hope where none exists.’

The prize is open to all Commonwealth citizens aged 18 and over. In addition to the 'overall winner', winners are announced in 5 global regions. These years' regional winners were:

AFRICA
'Mothers Not Appearing In Search' - Joshua Lubwama (Uganda)

ASIA
'An Eye and a Leg' - Faria Basher (Bangladesh)

CANADA & EUROPE
'Descend' - Chanel Sutherland (Canada/Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)

CARIBBEAN
'Margot's Run' - Subraj Singh (Guyana)

PACIFIC
'Crab Sticks and Lobster Rolls' - Kathleen Ridgwell (Australia)

Granta, a long-running UK-based literary magazine, has published all the regional winning stories of the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The tales are also available in a special print collection from Paper + Ink.