A Story Writing Competition Open to Nepal Every Month, in Nepali or English
Quick answer: Story writing competition entries from Nepal are welcome at Writory every month, in Nepali or English. Entry is $8 for one story of 100 to 3,000 words in any genre. Judging is blind against a published rubric, every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 on 30 November 2026, and writers keep all rights.
Entry is $8 for one story of 100 to 3,000 words in Nepali, English, Newar, Maithili or any other language. The deadline is 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, a quarter past midnight in Kathmandu, and every entrant receives a certificate and a five-part score out of 100 on 30 November 2026.
Nepal's story tradition, and the gap this fills
Nepal has honoured the katha for a long time. The Madan Puraskar, awarded since 1955 and run from the library of the same name in Patan, is the country's most respected literary prize and has gone to story writers as well as novelists and poets. The Nepal Literature Festival gathers writers in Pokhara each year, the Nepal Academy in Kamaladi has published and argued about Nepali writing for decades, and La.Lit in Kathmandu gives English-language writers a magazine of their own.
Between the big prizes, a writer with one finished story has few places to send it and fewer that reply. Writory closes every month, reads every story blind against a published rubric, and returns a certificate and a score out of 100 to every entrant on 30 November 2026. Samrat Upadhyay's Arresting God in Kathmandu won a Whiting Award in 2001 on the strength of short stories; the form travels, and a monthly score is a way to test how far.
Writing in Nepali, and the rest of the terms
A story in Nepali is read in Nepali. Devanagari is read as written, not transliterated or translated, and the entry is scored against the same five-part rubric as an English story in the same pool. That applies to Newar, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tamang and any other language of Nepal as well. Stories run from 100 to 3,000 words, in any genre, entered online at /submit-story by anyone aged 13 or over. The panel never sees your name.
The rubric is public: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10. The top prize each round is $100, the winner enters the next round free, and free entry is otherwise earned, never open. You keep all rights, and nothing is published without your permission, so a story entered here can still be sent to a Nepali magazine or a publisher afterwards.
A quarter past midnight in Kathmandu
The round closes at 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Nepal Time runs fifteen minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time, at five hours forty-five minutes ahead of Greenwich, and Nepal does not observe daylight saving. So the deadline falls at 12:14 AM in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Biratnagar, fourteen minutes into the 26th by the Nepali clock. For practical purposes, treat midnight on the 25th as the cutoff and you will be safe.
That fifteen-minute margin is the smallest of any country outside India, which makes Nepal the one place where the deadline reads almost exactly as written. Do not rely on the margin. Upload on the evening of the 25th, confirm the entry shows in your account, and go to bed before the clock matters. The first contest runs from 1 September to 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. From December the contest is monthly: entries close on the 25th, results on the 30th, and the next round opens the moment they land.
Paying in US dollars from Nepal, and how the prize is paid
Writory charges entrants outside India in US dollars: $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. Pay by card or PayPal at /submit-story. Nepali banks issue dollar cards for online payments abroad within the yearly limit set by Nepal Rastra Bank, and a small entry fee sits comfortably inside it; the charge converts to Nepali rupees at your bank's rate on the day.
The $100 prize is paid by PayPal. PayPal's service in Nepal has long been restricted, and receiving or withdrawing money there is not something we can promise, so if you enter with the prize in mind, check what your own bank and PayPal will allow first. The certificate and score reach every entrant by email regardless. Optional written feedback is priced separately at entry; the Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is free.
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 writers in Nepal enter?
Yes, from any province, on the same terms as every other country. Nepal is not India, so Nepali entrants pay the international fee in US dollars rather than the Indian rupee price. Judging is blind, and every story is read in its own language in one pool against the published rubric.
What does entry cost from Nepal?
Entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, charged in US dollars by card or PayPal and converted to Nepali rupees by your bank at the day's rate. Winning a round makes the next entry free; entering three rounds in a row also earns a free entry.
What does every entrant receive?
A certificate in your name and a score out of 100 divided across the five rubric parts, sent on 30 November 2026, the same day the winners are named. Your rank and the number of entrants are not disclosed. The certificate is issued to the name on your account, so register it as you want it printed.
What time is the deadline in Nepal?
25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST is 12:14 AM Nepal Time, fourteen minutes into the 26th in Kathmandu, because Nepal runs fifteen minutes ahead of India. Treat midnight on the 25th as your cutoff. Results and certificates follow on 30 November 2026.
Can I write in Nepali?
Yes. A story in Nepali, written in Devanagari, is read in Nepali and scored on the same five-part rubric as every other entry in the same pool. Newar, Maithili and other languages of Nepal are read the same way. Language & Craft is marked on precision and rhythm within your chosen language.
Is this the same as the Madan Puraskar or a national competition?
No. The Madan Puraskar is an annual prize for published Nepali books; Writory's contest is a monthly online competition for single unpublished stories in any language, with a score returned to every entrant. Entering here does not publish your story, so it stays free for any Nepali prize or publisher later.
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.