La.Lit, the literary magazine from Nepal, will be partnering with writer Samrat Upadhyay to organize Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest. The contest has been set up to encourage new writing in English from Nepal. The deadline for all submissions is May 25, 2013. Samrat Upadhyay will be the sole judge of the contest. All submissions will be considered for publication in La.Lit and an award ceremony will be held in June. Contest details below:

Submission guidelines:

– The entry must be in the genre of the short story.
– The entry must be unpublished and no more than 3,000 words. Please type and double-space.
– Include a separate cover sheet with your name and contact information. Your name must not appear on the actual story itself, as the submissions will be judged blind.
– Only one submission per entrant.
– The entrant must be a Nepali citizen.
– All finalists will be considered for publication in a forthcoming La.Lit.
– Winners will be announced in late June and honoured by Samrat Upadhyay in an award ceremony in Kathmandu.
– All submissions should be sent to editor@lalitmag.com by the deadline date.

Deadline: May 25, 2013

Prizes:

First Prize: Rs. 10,000
Second Prize: Rs. 5,000
Third Prize: Rs. 2,500

The contest is part of a project titled The Writer in the World supervised by Samrat Upadhyay at Indiana University. Select MFA students travel to Nepal and participate in cultural tours as well as a variety of literary activities: conducting workshops for students, visiting schools, and serving on literary panels and giving readings. The two-week trip aims to help the students engage with a broader social and political sphere and deepen their sense of being ‘writers in the world’. Writing Nepal hopes to encourage Nepali talents and take them to the world.

Further details: www.facebook.com/lalitmag