Accra, Oct. 5, GNA - The Commonwealth Foundation has named Ghanaian journalist and writer Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari as Chairperson of the Africa Regional Judging Panel of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011 which has just been launched.

Ms Yeboah-Afari is the Coordinator of the Ghana Media Standards Improvement Project.

A former BBC Correspondent, she is the immediate past President of the Ghana Journalists Association and former Editor of the Ghanaian Times.

A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday said Professor Peter Simatei of Kenya and Ms Beulah Thumbadoo of South Africa, are the other members of the Africa judging panel.

Prof. Simatei is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Moi University, Kenya, where he teaches African Literature, Literary Theory and African Cinema in the Department of Literature, Theatre & Film. He is the current Chair of the Department. Ms Thumbadoo is best known for her activism in reading, having run a short story competition for 18 years.

She was instrumental in the launch of a national reading campaign in South Africa, Masifunde Sonke. This year she managed the inaugural Penguin Prize for African Writing.

The statement said the 2011 Competition was the 25th Commonwealth Writers Prize. Works of fiction written by authors from Commonwealth countries published in 2010 are eligible and are to be submitted by the publishing houses.

The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, established in 1987, is organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation (MFG) of Australia.

Details and an online entry form are available at the Commonwealth Foundation's website: www.commonwealthfoundation.com/cwp The deadline for entries is November 15, 2010. Launching the call for entries, the Foundation announced that the prize would continue to be supported by the Macquarie Group Foundation.

"For the fifth consecutive year, Macquarie is proud to help advance one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world," it said. Commonwealth Foundation Director Dr Mark Collins said: "The Macquarie Group Foundation has supported the Commonwealth Writers' Prize each year since 2007, and we're thrilled that it has committed to the 2011 competition as well."

David Clarke, Chair of the MGF said: "The Macquarie Group Foundation is proud to have been a supporter of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize since 2007. During this time the prize has grown to reach more people around the world, encouraging wider reading across a range of Commonwealth cultures, bringing compelling stories of human experience to greater attention and rewarding the rising talent that other prizes often overlook."

The Prize offers awards for Best Book and Best First Book in four regions: Africa; the Caribbean and Canada; South Asia and Europe; and South-East Asia and the Pacific.

The eight winners from these regions will be announced in March 2011, and then go through to the final round.

The eight regional winners of the Best Book and Best First Book win a cash prize of 1,000 pounds each; the overall Commonwealth Best Book is awarded 10,000 pounds and the overall Best First Book wins 5,000 pounds.

The overall Best Book and Best First Book winners will be announced in May 2011.

The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental body working to help civil society organisations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding in Commonwealth countries.

The Macquarie Group Foundation is one of Australia's leading philanthropic foundations. It is the philanthropic arm of Macquarie Group Limited which is a global provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and fund management services. 5 Oct. 10