Uganda’s Joshua Lubwama wins 2025 regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa

By Editor

THE Commonwealth Foundation has announced the five regional winners of the world’s most global literary prize. Ugandan writer Joshua Lubwama has won the 2025 regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. Lubwama, a 25-year-old software engineer from Kampala, Uganda, wins for “Mothers not appearing in search”, a story in which a football-mad young man befriends an unconventional new arrival in the neighbourhood – to the dismay of his mother

Judges impressed by a “witty, elegant” story that shows how “the path to one’s destiny is not paved with angels only”. Lubwama cites Dick Gregory and Harper Lee as inspiration for his writing. The 25-year-old saw off strong competition from five other shortlisted writers from the Africa region: Dorechi from Kenya, Stephen M Finn from South Africa, Priscilla Ametorpe Goka from Ghana; Vashish Jaunky from Mauritius and Nigeria’s Olákìtán T. Aládéṣuyì.

Lubwama, who has previously been longlisted for the prize will go through to the final round of judging and the overall winner will be announced on 25 June.

His winning story, “Mothers not appearing in search”, tells of a football-mad young man who befriends Fatima, a new arrival in the neighbourhood. Fatima helps Musa in his sporting ambitions but his mother strongly disapproves.

Lubwama says his story was partly based on his and his siblings experience growing up. “Our late grandmother’s illiteracy and her diligent efforts to conceal it were suddenly brought to our awareness by the arrival into the neighbourhood of a young, charitable woman, setting up the stage for a clash of generations, which looking back had a lot more to it than I could ever have figured out at ten years old.”

Commenting on his win, Lubwama said, ”Winning the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Africa Region has given me licence to dream. For this story –‘Mothers not appearing in search’ – to appeal to an international panel of judges means the world to me. One day you’re spending lonesome hours at the dining table wrestling a story into existence—with the entire process shrouded in self-doubt—and then the next, these Commonwealth Foundation people are telling you they’re absolutely thrilled to let you know that you’re shortlisted, and then there’s more. It’s really a testament to the power and ability of stories to connect us through our shared experiences, each of us recognising bits and aspects of our own lives in the tales of others.”

The judge representing the Africa region, Cameroonian author, poet and scholar Nsah Mala said, “‘Mothers not appearing in search’ stands out in many ways, especially its elegant prose, sense of humour, and thematic novelties. Coming out from Africa as the most youthful continent on Earth, this story is an arresting narration of youthfulness and football. And it also wittily evokes fate, love and women’s empowerment. As the story suggests, the path to one’s destiny is not paved with angels only. What a memorable story!”

Joshua Lubwama

Chair of the Judges, Vilsoni Hereniko, said, “These stories illuminate many aspects of human nature and demonstrate true mastery of the short story form. Each tale shows that geography matters in storytelling. They are works of fiction that are inseparable from the local culture and history from which they have sprung. They have colour and emotional resonance—and they moved me deeply. Congratulations to the regional winners and judges!”

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth 56 member countries. It is the most accessible and international of all writing competitions: in addition to English, entries can be submitted in Bengali, Chinese, Creole, French, Greek, Malay, Maltese, Portuguese, Samoan, Swahili, Tamil, and Turkish.

The winning stories are Africa: “Mothers not appearing in search” by Joshua Lubwama (Uganda), Asia: “An eye and a leg” by Faria Basher (Bangladesh), Canada/Europe: “Descend” by Chanel Sutherland (Canada/Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Caribbean: “Margot’s run” by Subraj Singh (Guyana) and Pacific: “Crab sticks and lobster rolls” by Kathleen Ridgwell (Australia).

The five regional winners’ stories will be published online by the literary magazine Granta ahead of the announcement of the overall winner.

Granta’s Deputy Editor and Managing Director Luke Neima said, “Every year, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize brings us a thrilling wave of new literary voices, and this year’s winners are no exception. These stories are urgent, imaginative, and deeply human—a testament to the power of storytelling across borders. At Granta, we’re honoured to publish them and to continue our longstanding collaboration with the Commonwealth Foundation, which has done so much to amplify emerging talent from every corner of the globe.”

The 2025 overall winner will be announced in an online ceremony at 1.00pm BST, Wednesday, June 25.