Publishing platforms for South Asian writers

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2021

Unpublished short stories of between 2,000-5,000 words written in English, Bangla, Chinese, French, Greek, Turkish and several other languages can be submitted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize until November 1, 2020! The competition is open for all commonwealth nationals aged 18 and above; the winning entry will be awarded 5,000 pounds, regional winners will receive 2,500 pounds each, and top submissions will be published online on Granta magazine.

commonwealthfoundation.com/commonwealth-short-story-prize/

My City, My Home

UK-based Sampad Arts and Heritage organisation are seeking original fiction, poetry, non-fiction, diary entries, and any other form of creative writing from women across Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Birmingham until December 30, 2020. Write ups have to be within 1,000 words in English, Bangla, or Urdu, and focus on the female writer's relationship with their city—be it creative, political, or psychological. The ongoing series will also include writing workshops with Selina Hossain and other eminent writers, and winning entries will be published in a book launched in Dhaka in 2021.

https://sampad.org.uk/project/mycitymyhome2020/

Kitaab magazine

Throughout the year, Singapore-based South Asian magazine Kitaab take in submissions in the form of unpublished short story or novel excerpts (3,000 words), literary criticism, essays, travelogues, and book reviews. Once a year, they also take in submissions for a short story anthology published by the Kitaab press.

https://kitaab.org/submissions/

The Aleph Review

A Pakistan-based journal, The Aleph Review welcomes essays, short fiction, interviews, art, photography, and poetry in English from all over the world, all of which is published on their online platform. Once a year, they also publish a print anthology comprising all of the above.

https://www.thealephreview.com/contribute

Critical Muslim

An outpost of London's Hurst Publishers, the Critical Muslim quarterly journal publishes essays and articles (4,000-8,000 words), and reviews (2,500-3,000 words) exploring the issues and experiences of contemporary Muslim communities.

https://www.criticalmuslim.io/contributors/