Hear from our alumni about the program! Zeyad Masroor Khan (SAS 2021) was mentored by Isaac Chotiner. His memoir City on Fire was published by HarperCollins in 2023. City on Fire also won the 2024 Crossword Book Award for Best Nonfiction.

MEET THE MENTORS 2026! Excited to welcome Roman Gautam as our Non-fiction mentor!

Thank you for amplifying, @armorysqprize.bsky.social!

MEET THE MENTORS 2026! Excited to welcome Diksha Basu as our fiction mentor!

Hear from our alumni about the program! Aotemsü Jamir (SAS 2024) worked with mentor Madhuri Vijay on a satirical novella set in Nagaland.

Hear from our alumni about the program! Dinesh Kafle (SAS 2024) worked with mentor Srinath Perur on a translation of Nayan Raj Pandey’s fiction from Nepali to English.

Hear from our alumni about the program! Nusrat Jafri (SAS 2021) was mentored by Aanchal Malhotra. Her memoir This Land We Call Home was published by Penguin Random House India in 2024.

MEET THE MENTORS 2026! Excited to welcome Sanam Maher as our Non-fiction mentor!

Delighted to mentor another talented aspiring writer for @southasiaspeaks.bsky.social

MEET THE MENTORS 2026! Excited to welcome V. V. Ganeshananthan as our Fiction mentor!

Hear from our alumni about the program! Atharva Pandit (SAS 2021) was mentored by Prayaag Akbar. His novel Hurda was published by Bloomsbury in 2023, and also won the 2024 Godrej Lit Live Prize for Best First Book.

Hear from our alumni about the program! Shah Tazrian Ashrafi (SAS 2023) was mentored by Karan Mahajan. His book The Hippo Girl and other Stories was published by Hachette India in 2024.

MEET THE MENTORS 2026! Delighted to welcome Mahesh Rao as a fiction mentor for 2026!

MEET THE MENTORS 2026! Delighted to welcome Prayaag Akbar as a fiction mentor for 2026!

🚨Thrilled to announce that applications for the Class of 2026 are now OPEN! 🚨 Application form available on our website at southasiaspeaks.org/apply/. Please read our website's eligibility and exclusion criteria carefully, as they may have changed.

This month on our paid Substack, we have a rare and exclusive insight into a Masterclass event—Isaac Chotiner in conversation with Devika Rege about her novel Quarterlife, her writing life, and her thoughts on narrative craft. Full conversation here! southasiaspeaks.substack.com/p/devika-reg...

We are delighted to announce the mentors for the Class of 2026! 🚨Applications for the Class of 2026 open on September 1, 2025 - just a few days more to go! Please read our updated guidelines carefully. Website link in bio.🔗 #SouthAsiaSpeaks

Here is a little about our application process, including some key dates. Mark your calendars and polish your applications and writing samples—we're looking forward to hearing from you. 🚨Applications open on September 1, 2025. Website link in bio.🔗 #SouthAsiaSpeaks

In this month's free dispatch, we have an interview with Aanchal Malhotra, our Partition mentor, about a thrilling new update to our highly popular Partition genre. Available to all our followers. But do consider subscribing! southasiaspeaks.substack.com/p/oral-histo....

Here is an overview of the mentorship genres we have on offer for 2026. For the upcoming year, we will be introducing an exciting new genre, Oral History. Stay tuned for more! 🚨Applications for 2026 open on September 1, 2025 and the deadline is September 30, 2025. Website link in bio. 🔗

The most awaited time of the year is just around the corner! Here's a little about the South Asia Speaks fellowship. 🚨 Applications for the Class of 2026 open on September 1, 2025. Full guidelines on our official website: southasiaspeaks.org #SouthAsiaSpeaks

🔔 BREAKING NEWS! 🔔 We’re thrilled to share that South Asia Speaks has been featured in the World Bank’s 2025 study Good Neighbours, which profiles cross-border organisations fostering regional cooperation in South Asia. Full profile here! shorturl.at/IO07v

We’re thrilled to share that Subi Taba (SAS 2021) has been long-listed for the 2025 Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Sammaan award for her debut work of fiction, “Tales from the Dawn-lit Mountains”, a collection of short stories set in Arunachal Pradesh, published by Penguin India🏆📚

For our upcoming masterclass, we're very happy to welcome Akhil Sharma, multiple award-winning author, to South Asia Speaks, in conversation with SAS mentor and author of The Newlyweds, Mansi Choksi. Looking forward to hosting both of them! As always, this event is reserved only for SAS fellows.

📣 In this month's paid Substack, SAS founder Sonia Faleiro spoke with historian and author Sam Dalrymple about his new book Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia. To unlock the entire conversation, subscribe here! substack.com/@southasiasp...

We're very happy to welcome Zara Chowdhary to South Asia Speaks. For our upcoming masterclass, she will be in conversation with our 2021 alum, Zeyad Masroor Khan. As always, this event is only open to SAS fellows.

This Tuesday, we’re excited to share an interview with Beyond Ability mentor, poet, performer, and editor Abhishek Anicca—author of The Grammar of My Body and editor of Dislang. The post will be available to all our followers. But please consider subscribing. substack.com/@southasiasp...

We’re thrilled to welcome acclaimed writer Manjushree Thapa to our SAS Workshop tonight! 🌏✍️ We are beyond excited for her to join our fellows for an intimate conversation on craft, context, and writing across geographies. 📚✨

📣 This month on our paid Substack, we grabbed a (virtual) chai with literary agent Julia Churchill to chat all things publishing! Subscribe to unlock agent insights, editorial gold, and behind-the-scenes of South Asia’s brightest literary voices. substack.com/@southasiasp...

We’re so excited to introduce The Circle, our new public space to connect, write, and learn. Whether you’re polishing a novel, diving into nonfiction, or just getting started, these rigorous workshops are built to support you. Applications are now open: southasiaspeaks.org/writingcircle/

Ajay Patri (Class of 2021, mentored by Madhuri Vijay) just landed at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the holy grail of creative writing programs, and he’s doing it as the 2024 Sonny Mehta Fellow. So we decided to ask him about his life at Iowa! substack.com/@southasiasp...

Out now: Famous Last Questions by South Asia Speaks alumna Sanjana Ramachandran — a searing, hilarious, and unflinchingly honest debut that captures the chaos of growing up ‘90s desi. This is memoir-meets-sociology-meets-therapy with zero self-pity and infinite insight.

Fresh off the press! This month, we’re spotlighting four alumni who turned the mess and magic of writing into stunning debuts; stories that remind us what it means to begin, again and again. substack.com/@southasiasp...

There could have been no end to the day more brilliant than this conversation between Isaac Chotiner and Devika Rege! The masterclass weaved through conversations about initial forays into literature, craft the joys and anxieties of being a writer, all led by incisive questions from Isaac.

For our first masterclass of the year, we are stoked to invite the author of Quarterlife, Devika Rege, in conversation with our very own Isaac Chotiner. The masterclass will detail Rege's writing life and her thoughts on narrative craft. As always, this event is only open to SAS fellows.

Taken from one of our many Masterclasses, Mohsin and Basu talk satire and silver screens in this exclusive subscriber-only Substack. If you'd like to read from Mohsin, Basu and the likes of them, consider subscribing. In doing so, you'll be contributing to the future of South Asian literature.

We are beyond excited to be hosting a conversation between the brilliant Devika Rege and our very own Isaac Chotiner for the next SAS Masterclass! Rege is the author of Quarterlife, her debut novel which won the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year Award. Needless to say, we can't wait to learn from duo!

Our hearts are full with the praise How I Write continues to receive! This labour of our love is available online and in stores to keep emerging writers company and carve a permanent space in their bookshelves and tote bags, as it has for many others.

Kicking off the year, we are so excited to have the brilliant author of One Small Voice and Deviants, Santanu Bhattacharya, for the first SAS Workshop titled 'Sense of Place'!

Our Mumbai fellows met over the weekend and we are equal parts delighted for them and upset we couldn't make it! From left to right, you can see Parth MN (2024), Mehak Jamal (2022), Uma Shirodkar (2022), Sukhada Tatke (2022), Atharva Pandit (2021), Prachi Sibal (2024) and Eshna Sharma (2024).

What a delight it is to see our labour of love be so well-received in the world! Reviews for How I Write are in, and full of praise for the wisdom it holds. If you're still wondering if this book is for you, the reviews will guide you. Thank you for making this book your own!

We are beyond ecstatic to see our alum, Kinshuk Gupta win the Amar Ujala Thaap Samman for his book of short fiction 'Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chordarwaja'! With all the accolades to his name, this comes as no surprise and we can't wait to see what else he's got under his literary hat. Congratulations Kinshuk!

Our fifth cohort is here and we can't wait to see how great they'll be!

Congratulations Nusrat and Zeyad! We can't wait to see the magic you weave with the South Asian stories you bring to life!

The year has just begun and our fellows are on a roll! Mehak Jamal with Loal Kashmir and V. Iswarya with her translation from Perumal Murugan's Students Etched in Memory have made it to the recent Vogue India must-read list for the year, which includes both books in a list of just 18 new titles!

We have now reached out to all shortlisted candidates for the SAS Class of 2025. Thank you for applying and we are excited for the year ahead!

In an increasingly polarizing world, join Vinod Jose in How I Write as he sheds light on the politics of censorship and the importance of telling the stories one believes in. Like all our contributors, Vinod donated his entire fee to South Asia Speaks. www.amazon.in/How-Write-Wr...

Haven't been able to bring yourself to the page lately? Join Nilanjana Roy in How I Write as she speaks about her own writer's blocks and her journey of learning to accept them. Like all our contributors, Nilanjana donated her entire fee to @southasiaspeak. Make stories possible. amzn.in/d/4Zi…

Catch Alice Albinia on the How I Write page as she speaks about the joys of being edited! Like all our contributors, Alice donated her entire fee to @southasiaspeak, supporting free workshops and mentorship for emerging writers. Make stories possible. amzn.in/d/4ZixK5m

South Asia Speaks is proud to announce the winners of the first-ever SAS Bursary! These bursaries are awarded to nominees selected by mentors, chosen for their excellence and commitment to their craft. Congratulations to: Nikhil Eapen Nusrat F. Jafri Shradha Chettri Shah Tazrian Ashrafi