We have made a short video that explains how to access the toolkit.
Guidelines
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The competition is open to unpublished/published writers residing in India.
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There is an entry fee of Rs 350. All proceeds go to The Written Circle, which specialises in the publication and curation of emerging new fiction, and will help to ensure the future viability of the prize.
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Only submissions received and paid for by 23:59 on 31 May 2021 (IST) will be considered.
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Entries that are not paid for, incomplete, are corrupted, or submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
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The entry must be the entrant’s own original creation and must not infringe upon the right or copyright of any person or entity.
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Entries must be 1,500 words minimum and 7,000 words maximum.
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Writers may submit one story only.
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The story must be written in English (no translations).
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There are no age restrictions.
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In the online submission form, you will be required to include your contact details and the title of the story.
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The first page should include the title of the story and the number of words.
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All submissions should include page numbers.
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Entries will only be accepted via the online entry form. Submissions must be in one of the following formats: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt.
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The story must be original and should not have been previously published anywhere in full or in part. Published work is taken to mean published in any printed, publicly accessible form, e.g. anthology, magazine, newspaper. It is also taken to mean published online, with the exception of personal blogs and personal websites.
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Longlisted and shortlisted entrants will be notified by email when they have made the list.
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No editorial feedback will be provided to unsuccessful entrants.
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The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.
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The Written Circle will have the exclusive right to publish the winning and shortlisted stories for six months from first publication in The Written Circle. After six months, the rights will revert to the authors, who may publish the stories elsewhere so long as they appropriately credit The Written Circle.
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Submission to the short story prize is not a condition for publication in The Written Circle. Writers can still submit their work for consideration via the usual routes.
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Only submissions which meet all Terms and Conditions will be considered.
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By entering this competition, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
The Written Circle Short Story Prize
The Written Circle Short Story Prize aims to provide a platform for emerging writers in India. The winners will get their stories published on The Written Circle website, will be given monetary compensation, and will have an opportunity to work with our editors and publish their work as part of an anthology.
This year, the judges will be looking for short stories that explore and expand the possibilities of the form. We encourage submissions from all literary genres. There are no restrictions on theme or subject matter. The aim of the competition is to reward imaginative and novel approaches to creative writing.
Our Judges
Professor Saikat Majumdar is the Head of the Creative Writing Department at Ashoka University. Before joining Ashoka University, he taught at Stanford University and was named a Fellow at the Humanities Centre at Wellesley College. He is a novelist, academic and a popular commentator on arts, literature, and higher education. He is the author of three novels, including, most recently, The Scent of God (2019), the widely acclaimed The Firebird (2015), and Silverfish (2007). He has also published a book of literary criticism – Prose of the World (2013), a general nonfiction book on higher education – College: Pathways of Possibility (2018), and a co-edited collection of essays – The Critic as Amateur (2019).
Anjum Hasan is an Indian novelist, short story writer, poet, and editor. She is widely known for novels The Cosmopolitans, Neti, Neti and Lunatic in my Head, the short story collections A Day in the Life and Difficult Pleasures, and the poetry collection Street on the Hill. She was the winner of the Hindu Fiction Award 2010 and was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award 2007 and Man Asia Literary Prize 2008. Anjum was, until recently, Books Editor at The Caravan. She has been Charles Wallace Writer-in-Residence at the University of Canterbury and visiting professor of creative writing at Ashoka University. She is currently a Homi Bhabha Fellow. Her short stories, essays and poems have been published in Granta, Baffler, Five Dials, Wasafiri, Drawbridge, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Asia Literary Review, Caravan, and several anthologies.
Prize
The winner will receive a monetary prize of Rs 10,000. They will also get the opportunity to publish their story in print and in an audio format, along with a short interview with our editor, on our website. Along with this, their story will also be featured in an anthology compiled by our editors.
Stories shortlisted for the 2nd and 3rd place, will receive an award of Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000 respectively. Their stories will also be featured in an anthology compiled by our editors.
In addition to this, the top 10 stories will also be published by The Written Circle.
Entry
The deadline for submissions is 23:59, 31 May 2021 (IST). No entries will be considered if submitted after this deadline.
Please read the eligibility and entry rules carefully before beginning the online entry process. Submission of an entry is taken as acceptance of the entry rules.
The fee to enter the prize is Rs 350. You can buy the entry from The Written Circle Shop.
With this fee, along with being able to submit your story, you will also receive a Digital Writing Toolkit, Selection of Short Stories and a Handbook for Creative Writing curated by our editors. With the toolkit and the handbook, our editors wish to provide you with resources that can help you overcome writer’s block and learn techniques that can help you improve your writing.
