ANNOUNCING THE NBC’S SHORT STORY WORKSHOP TOUR (AUG-OCT 2025)

The National Book Council (NBC) is renewing its support to the Commonwealth Foundation for the third consecutive year to ensure that the upcoming edition of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is accessible to all Maltese writers, including those writing in their national language. In its continued commitment to provide writers with opportunities to hone their craft and receive constructive feedback on their work, the NBC is thrilled to announce a short story writing workshop tour in collaboration with Aphroconfuso,the Department of English at the University of Malta, Inizjamed and the Malta Society of Arts. 

Taking place between late August and early October, the workshop tour comprises four sessions – two in Maltese and two in English – designed for both budding and seasoned practitioners of the short story to learn the art of the form and refine their craft, offering insights ranging from theories of the genre to hands-on tips on how to edit. These workshops, being offered free of charge to a limited audience, are ideal for writers who are interested in submitting their short stories to the 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which will re-open for submissions from 1st September until 1st November 2025. Now in its fifteenth year, the prestigious prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words) in English or in English translation, facilitated by the NBC in case of stories submitted in Maltese. 

The short story writing workshop tour will open on the 29th August at Palazzo de la Salle with a session led by the Malta Society of Arts’ creative writing tutor David Samuel Hudson, ‘Cut to the Chase: Crafting the Great Short Story’. Offering a taste of Malta’s only recurring public course in creative writing, the workshop will be a masterclass in crafting short story excellence by a writer published internationally in the form.

The second installment of the workshop tour will take place online on 13th September with a session called ‘Kitba (mhux) għat-Traduzzjoni’, led by literary journal Aphroconfuso’s co-editor Joe Gatt. In this workshop, Gatt will draw on his experience as a bilingual author, a translator and an editor to give the audience a unique insight into Aphroconfuso’s editorial approach, shedding light onto what makes their Maltese-inflected short stories widely read and appreciated. For more information, subscribe to the newsletter here.

The workshop tour will then make a stop at the Valletta Design Cluster on 8th October with a session organised by the literary organisation Inizjamed focusing specifically on character. In the session ‘Il-Karattru tal-Karattri’, Maltese lecturer and writer Leanne Ellul will show participants what makes the most well-known characters so memorable while equipping them with the tools needed to create compelling characters. Apply here.

The workshop tour will draw to a close at the University of Malta’s Msida Campus with a session hosted by the Department of English. In ‘Writing the World: Setting in Short Fiction’, Dr Aaron Aquilina, resident academic and editor-in-chief of the creative writing journal ANTAE, will be sharing his expertise on building resonant settings in short stories in a workshop composed of both discussion and hands-on writing exercises. 

More information about the workshops and the tutors can be found here.

Whether you are looking to get your creative juices flowing or polish your short story before submitting to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026, writers interested in attending are encouraged to follow the workshop organisers’ websites and social media for updates on registration. 

For more information about how to submit for the 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, stay tuned for the announcement on 1st September here on ktieb.org.mt.