Kam wins the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction

Monica Kam has won the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction 2023, with Comma Press and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), for her short story "Mouthless Cat, Lion Dance".

The judging panel, which included DJ Tice Cin, last year’s winner Guy Carter and senior lecturer at UCLan, Robin Purves, said Kam’s story demonstrated a "writer with a serious gift but who wears it so lightly", commending the story’s fragmentary approach and the "stunning series of moves and metamorphoses and genuinely poetic images in a relaxed unhurried way".

The second prize was awarded to So Mayer for their short story "Dune Elegy" which was commended by one of the judges as "an archive of precious thoughts". Katie Hale clinched third prize for "We/Ourselves" with a special mention for Melissa Jackson-Wagner for their short story "Hum".

The short stories were selected out of over 200 entries, from published and unpublished authors, written to the theme "music" with the shortlist created by students at UCLan. The prize aims to "seek out the best established and up-and-coming voices in the form" made in honour of writer, radio presenter, playwright and DJ Dinesh Allirajah.

Author and lecturer at UCLan, 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."

Kam has also been recognised as the recipient of the London Library Emerging Writers Award 2023 and the Spread The Word London Writers Awards 2023. She is currently working on her debut short story collection set in Hong Kong.

Comma Press’ events, festivals and marketing co-ordinator Nia Thomas, who organised prize, said: "It was wonderful to see the range of stories that came from the prompt of ’music’. The judges all agreed that the calibre of stories was incredibly high and Comma Press are delighted to be publishing all of the final stories in an e-book available to the public."

Entries are now open for the next round of submissions with the theme "the uncanny". The closing date is 22nd September 2023.