Baahrakhari announces Nepal's highest-paying short story competition

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Oct. 18: Baahrakhari Online has announced Nepal's largest-ever cash prize for a short story competition. Beginning this year, the DishHome Baahrakhari Story Competition 2082 will award Rs. 200,000 to the first-place winner, Rs. 100,000 to the second-place winner, and Rs. 60,000 to the third-place winner, according to Baahrakhari Online's Editor-in-Chief, Prateek Pradhan. 

He announced this during the competition announcement ceremony held in the capital on Friday.

Previously, the prizes were Rs. 100,000 for the first, Rs. 60,000 for the second, and Rs. 40,000 for the third place.

A collection of the top 25 stories will be published in a book, and 22 other shortlisted writers will each receive Rs. 7,000.

Baahrakhari Media has been organsing this competition for the past six years to promote and encourage the short story writing in Nepal. It remains the short story contest with the highest prize money in the country. Contestants must submit their stories to 12Kharibooks@gmail.com by Kartik 30 this year. Writers of the Nepali language from all over the world are eligible to participate. 

During the ceremony, speakers remarked that the Baahrakhari Story Competition has contributed significantly to understanding contemporary Nepal. "This competition has helped highlight the essence of Nepali soil and identity," they said.

Chairperson of the jury panel for the 7th Baahrakhari Story Competition, playwright and short story writer Ashesh Malla, described the contest as a mirror reflecting the social realities of Nepal over the past decade. He called upon Nepali writers across the world to submit their stories for the competition. The other two jury members are fiction writers Manju Kanchuli and Avaya Shrestha.

"I urge Nepalis living all around the world to participate in the Baahrakhari Story Writing Competition," Malla said. "Let's work together to uplift Nepali fiction and literature."

At the event, Baahrakhari Media's Editor-in-Chief Prateek Pradhan explained that the prize amount had been increased to motivate and encourage individuals engaged in the field of literature.

He recalled that the Baahrakhari Story Competition was initiated to understand how ordinary people perceive and interpret Nepali language and literature.

"Journalism is literature in haste, while literature is the pulse of society," he said. "Literature helps us understand the emotions of Nepalis, both at home and abroad. If we work together, Nepali literature can rise to greater heights. That's why we have long been collaborating with corporate houses to enhance the standard of story writing."

Similarly, Govinda Adhikari, Baahrakhari Media's Opinion Editor and coordinator of the competition's internal jury, said that the stories received in the competition have become valuable subjects for sociological study. "These stories reflect where Nepali society is heading and what the younger generation is thinking today," he added.