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To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and mark this year’s Commonwealth Games celebrations, three recent prizewinners have written specially commissioned stories for Radio 4.

Today’s story is by the 2018 prizewinning writer Constantia Soteriou from Cyprus, translated by Lina Protopapa. Agamemnon’s Earthen Ships tells the story of a character from ancient Greek mythology who refused to bow to the demands of a warlike king, and has unsettling resonances with the violent political upheavals of today’s Europe.

Constantia Soteriou was born in Nicosia. Her first novel Aishe Goes on Vacation (Patakis, 2015) received the Athens Prize for Literature. Her second book Voices Made of Soil (Patakis, 2017) was included in the short list for the Cyprus Literature Awards. She has written plays for independent stages and the Cyprus Theatre Organization.

Reader Mia Soteriou is an actor and musician who played Arina in the film Mamma Mia! and Mirri Mas Duur in Game of Thrones. She has also appeared regularly on television and radio.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize attracts between 6,000 – 7,000 entries every year from nearly all the 54 Commonwealth countries, and taps into a rich, rewarding vein of storytelling from around the world. Five regional prizes are awarded, from which one writer is chosen as the overall winner.

Producer: Sara Davies
Sound Design: Lucinda Mason Brown
A Pier production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4