Malayalam Short Story Competition: ചെറുകഥ Read in Malayalam
Quick answer: Malayalam short story competition entries are accepted at Writory in Malayalam script, 100 to 3,000 words, any genre, from writers aged 13 and over. The fee is ₹199 for one story, paid in rupees. Judges read the story in Malayalam, blind, against the published rubric; every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100, with results on 30 November 2026.
Enter your ചെറുകഥ in Malayalam script from Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur or Thiruvananthapuram, ₹199 in rupees, and receive a സർട്ടിഫിക്കറ്റ് and a score out of 100 whether you place or not. Blind judging against a published rubric, deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST.
Read in Malayalam, by readers who know the form
A Malayalam entry is read in Malayalam by people who read Malayalam fiction, never carried into English first. The ചെറുകഥ has its own weather. Basheer's plain sentences that hide a joke and a wound in the same line, T. Padmanabhan's stillness, the football-commentary rush of N.S. Madhavan's Higuita: a judge who has read these knows what a Malayalam paragraph is doing when it slows down or refuses to explain. Names, towns and histories come off before reading, and one published rubric applies to the whole round: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10.
The limit, stated plainly: there is no separate Malayalam pool and no Malayalam-only prize. Malayalam stories sit in the same round as English, Hindi or German ones, and the top prize of ₹5,000 goes to the highest score in that round. What is promised is a reading in the language the story was written in, and a scorecard that explains its number rather than handing you a total.
What qualifies, and in what script
No theme is set and no genre is ruled out. A story of 100 to 3,000 words qualifies, whether it would sit in the Mathrubhumi weekly or Bhashaposhini, whether it is a Kottayam family story, a Malabar story, crime, romance or science fiction. Original work only, by a writer aged 13 or over. It does not have to be unpublished: a story from your blog or a college magazine is eligible if it is yours. Copied work is rejected, not scored.
Malayalam script is expected. Manglish is accepted but it costs rhythm, and rhythm sits inside Language & Craft. English words in dialogue are fine, because that is how Kochi talks. Type in Unicode Malayalam rather than an old ASCII font so the text arrives as you wrote it, keep paragraph breaks where you mean them, and give the story a Malayalam title so the certificate carries its real name.
11:59 PM IST is 11:59 PM in Kerala
The contest keeps Indian Standard Time, so a writer in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode or Kannur reads the deadline straight off the clock: entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. There is no other-country arithmetic to do and no midnight in another time zone to guess at. Results and certificates arrive on 30 November 2026. The first round has run long, from 1 September 2026, so the debut is judged on a full field rather than a first month's trickle.
From December the contest is monthly. Entries close on the 25th at 11:59 PM IST, results land on the 30th, and the next round is already open when they do. That is a different rhythm from the annual Onam and college-fest competitions most Malayalam writers grew up with, where a missed date means a year's wait; here a late story is an early entry. Winners take the top prize and free entry to the next round; free entry is earned, never open.
Entering and paying in rupees
Entry is ₹199 for one story, ₹349 for two and ₹699 for five, paid in rupees by UPI, debit or credit card, or netbanking at /submit-story. No international card, no conversion, no post. Each story is judged on its own, so two stories in different modes return two separate scorecards, and the gap between them tells you which mode the rubric rewards.
Every entrant receives a certificate with a verification link on writoryofficial.com and the full five-part score out of 100. Winners are published on a dated results page with their scores. Optional written feedback can be added at entry; for a Malayalam story it is written in Malayalam and quotes your own sentences. The free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is in English, and its lessons on scene, structure and endings carry across to a Malayalam story intact.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 3,000 words by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 30 November 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Monthly winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Can I enter a story in Malayalam?
Yes. The contest accepts stories in any language and reads each in its own language, so a Malayalam entry is read as Malayalam by readers of Malayalam fiction, not translated first. It competes in the same round as every other entry against the same published rubric and receives the same certificate and score out of 100.
Should I use Malayalam script or Manglish?
Malayalam script, in Unicode. Manglish is accepted, but the judges read for rhythm and precision under Language & Craft, and Roman letters lose both, along with the chillu endings a Malayalam reader hears. English words inside dialogue are ordinary speech and are scored on what they do for the character.
What is the fee for writers in India?
₹199 for one story, ₹349 for two, ₹699 for five, paid in rupees by UPI, card or netbanking. Winners of a round enter the next one free. There is no open free entry; every other writer pays the same fee and gets the same reading and the same five-part scorecard.
Is there a certificate for every entrant?
Yes. Every entrant receives a certificate with a verification link on writoryofficial.com and all five marks out of 100, on 30 November 2026. A college office can open the link and confirm it, and a score out of 100 says more on a CV than a participation line.
Will Thrissur slang or Malabar Mappila speech in dialogue be marked down?
No. Basheer wrote the Malayalam of his own Kozhikode streets and the language followed him. Dialogue is scored on what it does for the character and the scene, and a judge who reads Malayalam knows a regional voice from an error. Write the speech your characters would actually use.
Do I keep the rights to my story?
All of them. Entering grants Writory permission to judge the story and, if it wins, to showcase it with your name and consent. You remain free to send the same story to the Mathrubhumi weekly, Bhashaposhini or any other magazine or competition, before or after results.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 31 countries have entered, readers come from over 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.