Umbrella Man
Siddhartha Gigoo has won the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asia region for “Umbrella Man”, a tale of surreal meditation on mental health and the environment. Born in Srinagar in 1974, Gigoo’s first novel “The Garden of Solitude” was first published in 2011. He has also written two poetry books, “Fall and Other Poems” (1994) and “Reflections” (1995). Meanwhile, the African regional winner is “Light” by Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria), the Canada and Europe Regional Winner is “The Human Phonograph” by Jonathan Tel (UK) the Caribbean Regional Winner is “The King of Settlement 4” by Kevin Jared Hosein and the Trinidad, Pacific Regional Winner is “Famished Eels” by Mary Rokonadravu (Fiji).