Before we share the curated list of short story competitions in India and beyond, we want to share a bit about what prompted us to create this list.

Why should you submit to short story competitions in India?

A story always begins with an idea followed by writing, lots of it. You write you to edit and then you write some more. This involves multiple sleepless nights of doubt, weeks of introspection, and countless discussions with friends and fellow writers. It is only after such an arduous process that you manage to create something you are extremely proud of – a story that’s worthy of winning a competition or two at least.

After where to submit my work, the most asked question is which contests to send my work to. Writing competitions are a good way of analyzing your writing skills. Participating in writing competitions also helps you build a great writer’s CV. This list of Contests or Competitions for Short stories in India has been created to help writers achieve this.

Simply put, winning a writing competition is one of the ultimate recognition of one’s work. Irrespective of the genre one writes in, winning a contest and getting recognized is public applause for one’s writing. That is the reason we encourage aspiring writers to participate in Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India. While the ultimate goal might be a book, winning a competition can help you gain credibility with a publisher/agent too.  Submitting short stories and winning accolades will help create a reader base and earn a name and fame. Some contests offer money, but if your interest is earning through writing, check out our blog on seven ways to earn money through writing.

So, here’s a list of Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India where you can submit your work. There are multiple renowned awards like the Booker Prize, Pulitzer, and the DSC South Asian but these are for full-length novels. Here, we have curated a list of competitions for Short stories in India where you can send your short stories.

Disclaimers

A few pointers before we share the list of Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India:

• Please note, that this list of Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India is dynamic and will be updated regularly.
• All the Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India have a deadline that has been mentioned clearly along with submission guidelines.
• While they accept all genres, in case of exceptions it has been highlighted.
• All the below-mentioned Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India accept submissions only in English unless otherwise mentioned.
• The list includes Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India that are based in India and which accept submissions from Indian residents. We might make another list in the future which will include international contests and Competitions.
• If there are any other Contests and Competitions for Short stories in India you think we have missed, let us know and we will add them to this list.

Disclaimer: Himalayan Writing Retreat has no affiliation with any of these contests or anthologies. We have solely collated a list as a reference guide for writers. In case of any queries, please write to the concerned organizers on the email ids provided on their sites directly. Team HWR will be unable to respond to any queries regarding your submissions to them.

Contests and Competitions for Short Stories in India

**Updated as of April 2026**

1. The Deodar Prize

Contests and Awards for Short Stories in India

• Submission Guidelines: https://deodarprize.in/
• Accepts: Unpublished short fiction (up to ~2500 words)
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Cash prize + recognition
• No. of Prizes to be won: 3
• Literary Quotient: Good

2. Story Glory

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Accepts: Short Stories based on monthly prompts
• Closing Deadline: Monthly
• Prize: £20 Amazon Voucher for the winner + publication
• Literary Quotient: Good

3. Keekli Pan-India Short Story Competition

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Accepts: Unpublished short story 1,000–2,500)
• Eligibility: for under 20
• Language: English and Hindi
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Chance to get published in an anthology
• Literary Quotient: Good

4. India Writing Project

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Accepts: Stories, poetry, essays (1,500 words)
• Language: English
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Cash Prize
• Literary Quotient: Good

5. GEMA / StoryWriting Competition

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Accepts: Unpublished short story 1,000–2,500)
• Eligibility: for under 18
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Chance to get published in an anthology
• Literary Quotient: Good

6. Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize 

The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is supported by Queen Mary University of London, Routledge, and The Literary Consultancy and the prize supports new writers, with no limits on age, gender, nationality or background.

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: £10 for a single entry, £16 for a double entry. However, they offer a limited number of subsidized entries at a rate of £6 per entry, which must be accompanied by an explanation of the entrant’s need for subsidized entry (up to 200 words). There is capacity for 25 subsidized entries per month during the months that the prize is open (February-May 2020).
• Themes/ Genres accepted: All
• Closing Deadline: Submission guidelines for 2022 will be announced soon.
• Prize: The winners of each category (There are 3 categories currently – Fiction, Poetry and Life Writing) received a £1,000 cash prize and will be published by Wasafiri in print and online. They will also be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring scheme in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility). Shortlisted writers will be published online with Wasafiri and may be eligible for Free Reads mentoring also.
• No. of Prizes to be won: 3 for the main prize and 10 shortlisted winners.
• Literary Quotient: Excellent

7. Next Generation Short Story Awards

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Accepts: Unpublished short story under 5000 words
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Chance to get published in an anthology
• Literary Quotient: Great

8. Commonwealth Short Story Competition

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000–5,000 words) in English. Regional winners each receive £2,500 and the overall winner receives £5,000. Translated entries are also eligible, as are stories written in the original Bengali, Chinese, French, Greek, Kiswahili, Malay, Portuguese, Samoan, Tamil, and Turkish.

The contest will open for the 2022 Commonwealth Prize next year and the winners will be announced in early 2023.

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: NIL
• Themes/ Genres accepted: All
• Closing Deadline: Yet to be announced
• Prize:  The overall winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize will receive £5,000 and the remaining four regional winners £2,500. If the winning short story is translation into English, the translator will receive additional prize money.
• No of Prizes to be won: 5 regional winners and one overall winner
• Literary Quotient: Excellent

9. Shrihind Publications

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Accepts: Multiple genres & formats based on individual contests
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Certificates and Memberships
• Literary Quotient: Medium

10. Bath Short Story Competition

The International Bath Short Story Award is organized by Jude Higgins, Jane Riekemann, and Anna Schlesinger. And this year, 2020, award-winning short and short-short story writer, Alison Woodhouse, has joined the team. Launched in 2012 the BSSA has rapidly become established as one of the prominent short story competitions in the UK receiving over a thousand worldwide entries each year and producing a yearly anthology of short-listed and winning authors.

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: There is no limit to the number of entries but there is a fee of £8 for each story submitted.
• Themes/ Genres accepted: Any genre
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: 1st £1200; 2nd £300; 3rd £100, with a local prize of £50 , for the best entry from any BA, BS, GL or SN postcode unplaced in the main competition. In addition there is The Acorn Award of £100 for the best entry from an unpublished writer, unplaced in the main competition.
• No. of Prizes to be won: 5
• Literary Quotient: Excellent

11. The Iowa Short Fiction Award & John Simmons Short Fiction Award

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: NIL
• Themes/Genres accepted: All
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: Award-winning manuscripts will be published by the University of Iowa Press under the Press’s standard contract.
• Literary Quotient: Excellent

12. Anthology Magazine Short Story Competition

Anthology Magazine Short Story Competition is open to original and previously unpublished short stories in the English language by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world.

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: €18
• Themes/Genres accepted: Stories submitted must be on the theme of ‘Courage’ and not exceed the maximum of 1,500 words. Writers can submit as many entries as they wish.
• Closing Deadline: Yearly
• Prize: The winner will receive a €1000 cash prize and the chance to see their work published in a future issue of Anthology. The winner will also receive a one-year subscription to Anthology magazine
• Literary Quotient: Medium

13. Write the World’s Global Writing Competitions

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: NIL.
• Genre/Themes accepted: According to the current competition
• Deadline: Multiple competitions through the year
• Literary Quotient: Good

14. Writers of the Future

• Submission Guidelines: Guidelines
• Submission Fees: NIL
• Genres or Themes Accepted:hort story science fiction, fantasy, light horror. No excessive violence or sex on the page. Up to but not exceeding 17,000 words
• Closing Deadline: First quarter—December 31; Second quarter—March 31; Third quarter—June 30; Fourth quarter—September 30
• Prize: Prizes of $1,000, $750 and $500 are awarded every three months. 
• Literary Quotient: Great

15. Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition

• Submission Guidelines: Submission Guidelines
• Submission Fees: Starting $20
• Genres/Themes accepted: Inspirational/Spiritual, Memoirs/Personal Essay, Nonfiction Essay or Article, Genre Short Story (Mystery, Romance, etc.), Mainstream/Literary Short Story, Rhyming Poetry, Non-rhyming Poetry, Humor, Children’s/Young Adult Fiction
• Closing Deadline:  June 1, 2026 (Yearly)
• Prize: The First place winner in each category will receive $1,000 in cash and publication of their winning piece on WritersDigest.com. The Second place winner in each category will receive $500 cash. The Third place winner in each category will receive $250 in cash. The Fourth place winner in each category will receive $100 in cash. The Fifth place winner in each category will receive $50 in cash.
• Literary Quotient: Excellent