The Mozhi Prize 2026 – Submissions Open

About the competition:

The Mozhi Prize is a literary fiction translation prize awarded for the translation of short stories from an Indian language into English. Through this prize, we seek to provide a platform for translators with a passion for the craft. We also hope to bring attention to the wealth of literature in Indian languages and the art of fiction translation.

Over its first four editions, the Mozhi Prize has received over 450 submissions from across 18 different source languages. Our impressions on the previous editions are recorded in our notes on the respective years. It gives us great joy to note that many of our shortlisted translators have gone on to work on book-length projects and win other prestigious awards.

We immensely value the curatorial pursuit of the translator and therefore continue to place emphasis on the aesthetic quality of the chosen story, aside of the quality of the translation. We therefore invite participants to choose stories that are fresh, inventive and questful.

We look forward to reading the submissions!

Who can apply:

• Individuals or a team of not more than two translators can apply. There is no age limit.
• Unlike previous editions, we aren’t limiting this competition to emerging translators. Any translator irrespective of their experience can apply.
• We require the translator to be an Indian tax resident due to administrative constraints.
• We request winners of the top three prizes from previous editions of the Mozhi Prize to kindly refrain from participating.

Panel of judges:

Jeyamohan is a pre-eminent writer in modern Tamil literature. His works of fiction examine fundamental human questions while being rooted in the spiritual, cultural and literary traditions of India. Venmurasu, his reimagination of the epic Mahabharata over a novel-series of 26 parts, is considered one of the longest literary works in the world. His other major works include the novels Vishnupuram, Kottravai, Pin Thodarum Nizhalin Kural, Kaadu and Ezhaam Ulagam (The Abyss) and the iconic short story collection Aram (Stories of the True). Jeyamohan is the founder of several important cultural initiatives in Tamil, including a literary organization called the Vishnupuram Literary Circle, an encyclopedia of Tamil culture called Tamil Wiki, and an institute that offers courses in philosophy, cultural and religious studies called Nityavanam. Jeyamohan lives in Nagercoil, India.

Amitabha Bagchi is an Indian novelist writing in English, whose works explore contemporary Indian society, personal grief, and the intersections of history, literature, and identity. Born in 1974 in Delhi, Bagchi studied computer science and later pursued a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University, USA. Alongside his career in academics, he cultivated a strong passion for literature and storytelling, and he continues to straddle both fields of work. Bagchi debuted with Above Average (2007), a witty exploration of campus life. His novel Half the Night is Gone (2018), for which he won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (2019) established him as one of India’s leading literary voices.

Suchitra and Priyamvada both translate literary fiction and nonfiction from Tamil to English and are the co-founders of Mozhi.

What to translate:

• Any short story originally published in/after 1980 written in a non-English Indian language.
• The translator needs to have obtained permission from the rights holder to translate and publish the work. Mozhi reserves the first right to publish the translation, on its website, and/or in book form. You may find a sample rights letter here.
• Word count in English up to 7,000 words
• We do not accept self-translations.
• We allow re-translations of works that have already been translated with a justification for why it is being re-translated and what you are looking to do differently. 
• Please do not submit excerpts from novels / novellas, we are looking for a self-contained story within the word limit mentioned above. 
• Please submit only one story per entrant.
• The translation should not have been published anywhere else.
• The jury’s decisions will be final and binding.
• On grounds of fairness, we will not accept translations of stories written by any of the members on our jury or the founders at Mozhi.

Other information:

• Style: Translation should be as self-contained as possible; please avoid glossaries or footnotes unless absolutely necessary.
• Format of submission: Word document, 12pt, double spaced. Please mention the title of the story, the name of the author and your name on the first page.
• Selection criteria: The selection criteria will accord significant weightage to the literary/aesthetic quality of the story, apart from the quality of the translation itself. 
• Translation rights: We ask that you have obtained the translation rights from the rights holder prior to submission. You will be required to submit a signed rights statement at the time of submission.
• Publication: Mozhi will have the first rights to publish the shortlisted entries digitally and/or in print form. 

How to enter:

Please submit here.

Prizes:

1st Prize – INR 50,000

2nd Prize – INR 25,000

3rd Prize – INR 15,000

Prizes sponsored by The Mozhi Trust

Timelines:

Last date for submission: 31 December 2026, 11.59pm IST.

Winners to be announced: April 30, 2027

Please write to contact@mozhispaces.in if you have any questions. 

We look forward to your entries

Team Mozhi