When Tresha Lionel saw her name on the longlist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, the feeling was simple.
“I was really happy about it… It’s a sort of validation that I’m on the right path,” she told St Lucia Times.
It is the second time her work has been recognised by the prize. Her earlier piece God Don’t Need Long Pants, told the story of her grandmother’s illness and the strain it placed on her family.
“Being a writer and sending in submissions can mean a lot of rejection,” she said. “So any acceptance and recognition feels great.”
For Lionel, those moments of recognition carry weight because of the stories she chooses to tell.
“I write about memory, survival and joy in our ordinary lives and the deeper truths held within them. I focus on community. As a writer, I think I’m really an observer trying to make sense of the world around me.”
Her stories are grounded in her lived experiences in Vieux Fort, Shanty Town, and among the people and spaces she knows. Even now, as she studies for a Master’s in Creative Writing, those roots remain with her.
Her longlisted story, A Soft Place, follows a woman searching for somewhere to feel safe. That search begins in childhood and continues into adulthood, shifting as life changes.
At the centre of the story is the idea of “softness”.
“Certain themes are really important to me. Softness, for example, is a theme because it operates as both a literal and symbolic pursuit by representing emotional safety, rest, love and escape from violence. I write it in because I think in the end we all seek and want some softness,” Lionel said.
The story moves between past and present and across parts of Saint Lucia, showing how family, memory and community shape the search for comfort. It also reflects realities many people grow up with, where things that feel safe can be taken away or change over time.
Lionel also explores the tension between Kwéyòl and standard English, which she experienced firsthand growing up.
Her grandmother spoke only Kwéyòl, while in school it was discouraged.
That contrast, she said, is not only about language, but about identity and whose knowledge is valued.
For her, those things matter.
And that is what she tries to capture in her writing, the parts of life that are often overlooked but deeply felt.
Summary of ‘Manmay-la, nou wivé’ in Tresha Lionel’s words:
“My story, A Soft Place, traces a woman’s lifelong search for safety, comfort, and emotional refuge. Beginning in childhood, she associates softness with her mother’s hair and body. As she grows, these sources of comfort are repeatedly taken away or transformed, forcing her to find new, often temporary, forms of refuge.
The narrative moves between past and present, rural and urban Saint Lucia, between memory and reality and shows how cultural knowledge, family, language, and community shape her understanding of survival. As an adult, she navigates exhaustion, responsibility, and political possibility, returning finally to a fragile but real moment of connection. The story follows parts of my own life and my observations living in Shanty Town, Vieux Fort, working as a journalist, and engaging in Saint Lucia’s political landscape.”
