From time to time, we’ll be doing round-ups of competitions that are free to enter and that Indian writers are eligible to participate in. This is our first list for 2017.
1. TOI Write India Season 2 Contest 2017: Times of India
Write India is a Short Story Contest initiative by Times Internet that offers prompts from 11 of India’s top-selling authors. Every month a winner is selected from the entries received with the help of the ‘Celebrity Author of the Month’. Please go through the faqs in detail. A book will be published with all the top winning entries. The competition starts on the 7th of every month till the 30th of the month.
2. James Hemingway Short Fiction Award-2017
James Hemingway is one of the first publishing imprints under the umbrella of Shreem Info Media. SIM Publishing has launched a short fiction prize aimed at finding genuine Indian voices. The award is open to stories written in both English and Hindi languages. Previously published stories are welcome too. The first prize winner will get a fixed cash award (to be announced) along with the submitted entry published in a book on the theme with other nominations and released worldwide. Twenty-one best stories will be nominated for the award. These twenty-one stories will be published in the book form by SIM publishing and launched worldwide. All nominated stories will be translated into English(if Hindi stories are selected). This year’s theme is ‘Delhi’. Deadline is at midnight 22nd July 2017. There is a late fee of INR 250 for all submissions after the deadline. The word limit for Hindi is 4500 and for English is 3500. Please go through the rules on the website.
3. Monsoon – My Article Contest
Looking for write-ups on Monsoon memory, recipes, etc. Email write-up at halfsamosa@99colours.com with your full name. Mention the contest category(mentioned in the link) and a title for your write-up. Your write- up should be at least 300 words long and it should be in MS Word only.You can send more than one article. Contest closes on 31st July 2017. The winners will be judged on the basis of Facebook likes (50%) and on the quality of the write-up/entry (50%). The winner will be announced by email on 10th August 2017. The best two winners will be awarded Flipkart gift vouchers of Rs. 500/- each. Articles will be accepted in both English and Bengali.
4. The Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction
Comma Press and the University of Central Lancashire have announced the first annual Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction. The theme for this inaugural year will be ‘Café Stories’, in honor of Dinesh’s Café Shorts series which he posted on his blog. He believed cafes to be “fertile ground for the short story.” The prize is open to anyone 18 years or over, and the story you submit must not have been published anywhere else, online or in print. It is free to submit your entry, but only one per writer. All entries will be made anonymous upon receipt. Entries will be made anonymous upon receipt and will remain so until after the shortlist has been decided. Entries open 10th May 2017 and close 31st October 2017. All entries must include a cover letter which states the author’s name, address, email, contact number, and story title. Any entries sent without this information will not be considered. You must submit your story both electronically and in hard copy form. Please send your story entry and cover letter electronically to commaprizes@gmail.com in the form of a Word Doc, then send a hard copy of your story to Becky Harrison, Comma Press, Studio 510a, Hope Mill, 113 Pollard Street, Manchester, M4 7JA. The winning writer will receive £500 and all 10 shortlisted authors will be featured in an ebook anthology which will be published by Comma Press and sold online.
Please go through the rules on the website.
5. Futurescapes-Writing Contest
FutureScapes is an annual writing competition that asks writers to envision a particular future and tell its story. For 2017, the Futurescapes Contest theme is “Blue Sky Cities.” Contest winners will be published alongside multiple professional authors including Paolo Bacigalupi. There is an entry fee for second entry; first entry is free. The winner receives $2000 and five runners-up receive $500 each. Professional authors are not eligible to enter. Contest deadline is October 13, 2017. Check the rules in detail on the website.
This is the 8th year of the Wordweavers Contest. All submissions for a single category should be copy pasted in the entry form along with the address details. The deadline for poetry (2-100 lines) and short story (5000 words) is August 15th, 2017. The entrant should be above 16 and a citizen of India. Entries should not have been previously published. Go through the details rules here.
Disclaimer: The above-mentioned competitions and opportunities should not be treated as recommendations, but only information. The reader should verify the quality and suitability of each before submitting.