Kathmandu, December 30
La.Lit, a literary magazine, concluded the award ceremony of the seventh edition of Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest recently, celebrating emerging English-language writers from Nepal. The ceremony was held at Malpi Institute in Baluwatar.
This year’s edition marked a milestone with the highest-ever prize money, awarding Rs 30,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000 to the first, second and third prize winners respectively, according to a press statement released by La.Lit. The contest received over 350 submissions, reflecting a wide range of themes, voices and narrative styles in contemporary Nepali writing in English.
Renowned writer Samrat Upadhyay served as the sole judge and shortlisted 12 stories for the final round. Announcing the winners, he praised the overall maturity, consistency and originality of the shortlisted works.
The first prize was awarded to No Country for Neptes by Kundan Shrestha, followed by In the Morning, The Cock Sometimes Crows by Sandesh Ghimire in second place. Urza Acharya (Taranga) secured the third prize for Geetanjali Hall.
The winning stories, along with selected shortlisted entries, will be published online on La.Lit’s website. Held in partnership with Samrat Upadhyay and supported by Indiana University, Writing Nepal continues its mission to promote new literary voices and foster creative storytelling in Nepal.
