Commonwealth Short Story Prize Winner Kwame Mcpherson Gets Royal Invitation

Jamaica’s 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner, Kwame McPherson, has been invited to attend Buckingham Palace as a guest of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS).

Mr. McPherson, a prolific writer, is the first Jamaican to win the prestigious prize.

His award-wining story, ‘Ocoee’, is a mixture of Caribbean folklore and African American history.

“We are delighted to invite you to save the date for the Queens Commonwealth Essay Competition 2023 Awards Ceremony hosted by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace in November”, his invitation states.

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is the world’s oldest international writing contest for schools, founded and run by the RCS since 1883.

The literary body is a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens across the world.

This is a special year for the competition, which marks 140 years of celebrating and championing youth voices, literary expressions and creativity across the Commonwealth.

Mr. McPherson tells JIS News that he is honoured to receive the invitation and to represent Jamaica.

“I am humbled that I am representing the country, so that is motivating for me being in that kind of space. It is something significant,” he gushes.

A past student of London Metropolitan University and the University of Westminster, London, Mr. McPherson views the invitation as a recognition of his achievements as a writer.

Over the years, he has won many awards and is the 2007 Poetic Soul winner as well as the first Jamaican Flash Fiction Bursary awardee for The Bridport Prize – International Creative Writing Competition in 2020.

He has contributed to Flame Tree Publishing’s (UK) diverse writing anthologies and is a contributor to ‘The Heart of a Black Man’ anthology, which includes empowering stories from prominent black men.

Recently, he won the Outstanding Achievement Award 2023 from his alma mater, University of Westminster, in recognition of being the first Jamaican to win a global short story literary award.

“I think it is part of the journey, and I am grateful for what is happening with regards to where my writing is taking me. I am empowering other people… this is really my best life,” Mr. McPherson tells JIS News.

“My writing has taken me to heights that I didn’t envision or dream of. I am grateful for every moment and I give thanks,” he adds.

Mr. McPherson, who was born in the UK but came to Jamaica as a young child, tells JIS News that his love for writing began during his primary school years in the island, when he would participate in essay compositions and poetry writing.

He briefly stopped writing when he returned to the UK to pursue his secondary education.

It was while working there in the civil service that he started writing again, penning love poems for his colleagues.

“Other people were impressed, and so I started entering writing competitions. I started being shortlisted and winning competitions, especially poetry. From there, I started writing long pieces, and that’s really how it started,” he recalls.

Mr. McPherson’s advice for young people seeking a career in writing is “to keep reading. Always read other people’s writings; always have perseverance and do not give up, because I entered the Commonwealth Competition nine times”.

Mr. McPherson says that now is an opportune time for young persons to become writers, noting that “creativity is being embraced now more than it had ever been”.

“Now is the time to be a writer, because a lot of writing has been lost, a lot of writing is not true, a lot of writing is not authentic. So, once a young person has a particular voice, a voice which is uplifting, inspiring and motivating then they will find a niche,” he says.