Urdu Short Story Competition: افسانہ Read in Urdu
Quick answer: Urdu short story competition entries are accepted in Nastaliq script, 100 to 3,000 words, from writers aged 13 and over in India or Pakistan. Indian writers pay ₹199 in rupees; writers outside India pay in dollars. Judges read the افسانہ in Urdu, blind, against the published rubric, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
For afsana writers in Lucknow, Hyderabad, Delhi, Lahore and Karachi. Enter in Nastaliq, pay ₹199 in rupees from India or in dollars from Pakistan, and receive a سرٹیفکیٹ and a score out of 100 whether you place or not. Deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST.
Read as an afsana, not as translated prose
An Urdu entry is read in Urdu by people who read Urdu fiction, never carried into English first. The افسانہ has habits of its own: the flat last sentence Manto used in Toba Tek Singh, the domestic pressure Ismat Chughtai built in Lihaaf, the long withheld turn of Ghulam Abbas in Anandi. A judge who has read these knows what an Urdu paragraph is doing when it stops short. Names, cities and countries 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, plainly: there is no separate Urdu pool and no Urdu-only prize. Urdu stories sit in the same round as English, Hindi or Spanish ones, and the top prize goes to the highest score in that round. What is promised is a reading in the language the story was written in, whether its register is the Persianised Urdu of Lucknow or the street speech Manto preferred, and a scorecard that explains its number.
Script: Nastaliq first, Devanagari and Roman accepted
Urdu is written three ways today and the contest accepts all three. نستعلیق is the script the judges would rather read, because it is the script the afsana was made in. Urdu in Devanagari is common among Indian readers who came to Manto through Rekhta's Devanagari mode, and it is accepted. Roman Urdu, the phone script of Karachi and Lahore, is accepted too, though it costs rhythm and rhythm is part of Language & Craft. Whichever you use, the story is read as Urdu.
No theme is set and no genre is ruled out. A story of 100 to 3,000 words qualifies, from a Lucknow haveli story to a Karachi traffic story, crime, romance or science fiction. Original work only, by a writer aged 13 or over. It need not be unpublished: a story from your blog or a college magazine is eligible if it is yours. Copied work is rejected rather than scored, and the writer keeps every right to everything entered.
One deadline, two clocks
The contest keeps Indian Standard Time. Entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. In Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Bhopal that is 11:59 PM on the day itself. In Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and Multan, half an hour behind, it is 11:29 PM the same evening, so a Pakistani writer has a little less of the night than the clock on the page suggests. Results and certificates arrive on 30 November 2026 for everyone at once.
The first round has run long, from 1 September 2026, so the debut is judged on a full field. From December the contest is monthly: entries close on the 25th at 11:59 PM IST, results on the 30th, and the next round opens as they land. A story finished late is an early entry for the next round rather than a year lost. Winners take the top prize and free entry to the next round; free entry is earned, never open.
Entering and paying from India or Pakistan
Writers in India pay ₹199 for one story, ₹349 for two and ₹699 for five, in rupees by UPI, card or netbanking at /submit-story, and the top prize for an Indian winner is ₹5,000, paid in rupees. Writers in Pakistan and everywhere outside India pay in dollars by international card; the entry page shows the dollar fee when opened from there. Nothing is posted, and no bank draft is involved.
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 an Urdu story it is written in Urdu and quotes your own lines. The free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is in English, and its lessons on scene, structure and endings hold for an afsana as much as for anything else.
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 Urdu?
Yes. The contest accepts stories in any language and reads each in its own language, so an Urdu entry is read as Urdu by readers of Urdu 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.
Which script: Nastaliq, Devanagari or Roman Urdu?
Nastaliq is preferred and reads best to the judges. Urdu written in Devanagari is accepted, as many Indian readers use it. Roman Urdu is accepted too, but it costs rhythm and precision under Language & Craft, so if you can type in نستعلیق, do. In all three the story is read as Urdu.
What does entry cost in India and in Pakistan?
In India, ₹199 for one story, ₹349 for two, ₹699 for five, in rupees by UPI, card or netbanking. In Pakistan and everywhere else outside India the fee is charged in dollars by international card; the entry page shows it in dollars when you open it from there. Winners enter the next round free.
Do I receive a certificate even if I do not win?
Yes. Every entrant receives a سرٹیفکیٹ with a verification link on writoryofficial.com and all five marks out of 100, on 30 November 2026. A university in Lahore or Aligarh can open the link and confirm it, and a score out of 100 says more than a participation line.
Does a high Persianised register score better than plain speech?
Neither register scores by itself. Manto wrote in the Urdu of the street and Qurratulain Hyder in a register thick with Persian, and both are read as masters. The judges score what the register does for the character and the scene, and a mismatch between voice and world costs more than any single word choice.
Do I keep the rights, and can I send the afsana to a magazine later?
You keep every right, permanently. Entering grants Writory permission to judge the story and, if it wins, to showcase it with your name and consent. Sending the same afsana to a literary journal in Lahore or Delhi, or to another competition, before or after results, is your decision alone.
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.