Judges and shortlist revealed for Dinesh Allirajah Prize

The judging panel and shortlist for this year’s Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction – organised by Comma Press and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) – have been revealed.

The shortlisted authors, who responded to the theme of ‘Music’, will be published in a Comma Press e-book. They are: Katie Hale, Monica Kam, Lauren Alonso Miller, Melissa Jackson-Wagner, Riley Johnson, Emma Lee and So Mayer.

The entries were shortlisted by students at UCLan. Author and lecturer, Naomi Krüger, said: “We know that as our students rise to the challenge of producing the shortlist they grow as readers, critics and negotiators. It is a unique opportunity for them to learn how varied and complex the short story can be as well as gaining valuable insight into the publishing industry.”

The 2023 judging panel is made up of last year’s winner Guy Carter, senior lecturer in English Literature at the University of Central Lancashire; Dr Robin Purves, award-winning saxophonist; composer and producer Lara Jones; and Keeping the House author (And Other Stories), journalist, filmmaker and DJ Tice Cin.

Nia Thomas, organiser of the prize on behalf of Comma Press, said: “The Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction 2023 saw hundreds of submissions interpreting this year’s theme of ’Music’ in vastly different ways.

"As well as a poet, Dinesh’s work spans the musical field; writing song lyrics, DJing and presenting on different radio stations over the years. The line up of judges for the 2023 award held in his memory represents the breadth of Dinesh’s own creative practice, and encourages more cross-disciplinary work, something which is central to both our publishing and writer development programme here at Comma.”

The winning writer will receive £500 and will be announced at an awards ceremony in May.