We are happy to reveal our shortlist for the 2025 edition of Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest. We had over three hundred submissions this year, and have truly enjoyed reading your stories. Here, in alphabetical order, is our final shortlist as selected by author and professor of creative writing, Samrat Upadhyay: ‘The Brontosaurus’ by […]

I started walking the hard trails about ten years ago. I was young and strong, unmarried, with an independent source of income from my small café and shop on Swotha Road, selling hot coffees and antiquities.

Sarita was up at the crack of dawn to practice her walk in the new high heels. She just hadn’t been able to garner the grace that those Hindi film heroines were famous for; she admired the ease with which they moved their feet in rain-soaked dances, perfectly balanced in their high heels. But when […]

Sharad Duwal’s Kumari Galli is now a Cul-de-sac won first prize in sixth Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest. About the winning story, Samrat Upadhyay, author of Buddha’s Orphan and judge of the contest shared, ‘This wonderful story is told from the point of view of a young boy who is discovering that the vibrant community where he lives contains […]

Till you Remember to Forget me by Lalahang won second prize in Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest 2023. About the story, Samrat Upadhyay, author of Arresting God in Kathmandu and judge of Writing Nepal, said, ‘Till you Remember to Forget me(a great title!) is a dystopian story set around Singha Durbar and Teku. A cyborg is assigned […]

Dia Yonzon’s Unwritten Letters won third place in Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest 2023. About the story, Samrat Upadhyay, author of Arresting God in Kathmandu and judge of Writing Nepal, said, “In Unwritten Letters a transgender person debates whether they ought to reveal their true identity to their lover and thereby risk rejection. While the actual letter doesn’t […]

La.Lit magazine is continuing its partnership with writer Samrat Upadhyay and Indiana University, Bloomington, USA to organize the sixth edition of Writing Nepal: A Short Story Contest. The contest was set up to encourage new writing in English from Nepal back in 2013 and is open to Nepali citizens and the Nepali diaspora. The deadline […]

Comrade Aakrosh’s reputation preceded him in the party. He was as known for his ruthlessness as he was for his loyalty to the party and therefore, the cause. His loyalty and uprightness were as fearsome as his ruthlessness.

The government is rolling out vaccines and he knows that he isn’t supposed to get one. At least, not yet. The vaccines are for the older folks, the doctors and nurses at the hospitals, the bankers, and the sarkari babus. Everyone but him.