CALL FOR FICTION SUBMISSIONS 2023
Now in its fifth year, The Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for Women continues to feature literary luminaries on its judging panel. With the call for submissions being for short fiction in 2023, the panel includes prominent Pakistani literary figures.
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Mohammed Hanif, novelist. A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, and Red Birds
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Aamina Ahmad, novelist and playwright. The Return of Faraz Ali, The Dishonored (play)
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Shandana Minhas, novelist. Tunnel Vision, Survival Tips for Lunatics, Rafina, and Daddy’s Boy.
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Sarwat Yasmeen Azeem, Literary Editor, Books and Authors section of Eos Magazine, DAWN newspaper.
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Shan Vahidy, freelance editor, and permanent co-ordinating judge on the panel
ANNOUNCING THE WINNER FOR 2022
We are delighted to announce that the Award for 2022 goes to writer Saira Mahmood for her essay A Pakistani Woman Comes of Age. Saira will receive a cash award of Rs.100,000.
The judges agreed that this compelling memoir, which articulates a girl’s journey to womanhood through the coming of age of social media in Pakistan, was original thinking at its best: bursting with freshness and ambition.
The winning author, Saira Mahmood, is a graduate student at the Department of English at the University of Karachi where her current research and writing interests include gender, media, and Muslim womanhood. She was previously a Staff Writer at online magazine, The Tempest.
The winning essay will be published in DAWN'S EOS magazine in November and subsequently on our website along with the Highly Commended and Longlisted works.
SHORTLISTED AUTHORS REVEALED!
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A SEAT AT BIBI’S DINING TABLE by Laila Ghaffar. An evocative and heartwarming account of familial relationships across three generations.
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EMPIRE OF ILLUSION by Aisha Chapra. Themes of postpartum depression and the climate crisis are skillfully woven together in a frantic search for meaning in a collapsing world.
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FRIDGE MAGNETS by Sundus Saleemi. A subtle and complex essay with elegant meditations on home as a repository for both memory and hope
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OF BRAS AND BREASTS by Areej Akhtar. Ideas about womanliness, or the lack of it, are examined in this triptych of portraits of women betrayed by their own bodies.
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THE SILENCE OF THE DEMENTED by Michelle Nadeem. An original piece speculating on the silence of women (and the self-silencing of dementia) as a trauma response.
LONGLISTED AUTHORS NAMES REVEALED!
Congratulations to all long listed authors whose names can now be revealed. We hope to publish most if not all longlisted submissions in the coming months.
This year we limited the number of long listed entries to just 16 in order to reduce the time burden on our judges so that each essay got the attention it deserved. The judges remarked on the excellent quality of the submissions and on the difficulty of compiling the shortlist.
We would like to thank and congratulate all the contestants who entered this year. The standard was exceedingly high and we would urge those who are disappointed to keep writing and enter again in coming years.
FEATURED WRITING FROM PREVIOUS YEARS IS NOW AVAILABLE TO READ IN OUR ARCHIVE
Selected writing from previous years of our the Prize is available to read.
2019 AWARD CEREMONY
See photos and videos of our with novelist Kamila Shamsie making the presentation to the Winner Maham Javaid and recipient of our Special Citation,Sadia Khatri.
Karachi literati in attendance ...
