Fiction

The 11 rules of walking

Carsten Smith-Hall | October 20, 2024

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.

High Heels

Ranjan Adiga | January 30, 2024

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 […]

Kumari Galli is now a Cul-de-sac (Writing Nepal, 1st place winner)

Sharad Duwal | January 22, 2024

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 (Writing Nepal, 2nd place winner)

Lalahang | January 13, 2024

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 […]

Unwritten Letters (Writing Nepal, 3rd place winner)

Dia Yonzon | January 6, 2024

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 […]

Writing Nepal 2023: A Short Story Contest

La.lit | May 31, 2023

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 […]

One day in the life of Comrade Aakrosh (Writing Nepal short-listed story)

Surath Giri | March 4, 2022

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.

Vaccine (Writing Nepal 2021, shortlisted story)

Bijay Prakash Upadhyaya | February 18, 2022

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.

The Man on the Bus (Writing Nepal, 1st place winner)

Pooja Poudel | February 4, 2022

Once she overheard two aunties talk about the growing numbers of vehicles on the roads of Kathmandu. ‛The street looks like a colony of ants. The cars are the big ants and the motorbikes are smaller ants and they run a never-ending marathon,’ one of them had said.