READISCOVERY 2026

Welcome back to our exciting ONE OF ITS KIND competition.

READISCOVERY is exclusively for participants with Visual Impairment / Blindness.

Why? Because we want to learn how you experience our world. Most of our stories rely heavily on sight, using visuals to convey ideas. We would love to read stories that involve all other senses instead. We look forward to many wonderful stories from you!

Contest Rules

• Language: English only.

• Minimum age: 18 years.

• Maximum number of words: 1500

• Email your stories to: ekanshtrust1@gmail.com [Email Subject: Readiscovery]

• Last date for submission: 15th November, 2026. No extension.

• Format: DOC/PDF only

• Mention your name, address and telephone number

• Attach your disability certificate [Blind/Visually Impaired]

We are happy to have HarperCollins India, once again, as our OUTREACH and EDITORIAL partners. HarperCollins India will edit the winning stories and publish them on their page also.

We welcome back our accomplished judges [ V I ]

• Shri Sameer Latey [ CA, Winner of multiple awards]

• Dr. Nikita Raut [National Award Winner]

We are grateful for their continued support.

Do read more about their amazing and varied achievements online.

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• First prize is Rupees 10,000/- Second prize is Rupees 7500/-.
  *We may distribute this amount differently among winners depending on the merit of the stories. No prizes will be given if no story qualifies. Judges' decision will be final.

• Winning stories will be edited by the HarperCollins India team and published on both our websites.

• No use of ChatGPT or AI tools — entries must be original. We can and will check, so this is a formal warning.

• Winning stories will be chosen mainly on the basis of originality, imagination, focus on senses other than sight, and reader engagement.

• Special Mention stories may also be shared along with the winning entries if found .

• All participants will receive a participation certificate.

Storytelling Guidelines

Stories should be built without relying on visual description as the primary mode of imagination. Instead, they can explore the world through other senses and experiences.

Sensory storytelling: Use sound, touch, smell, taste, movement, temperature, balance, memory, emotion, language, and bodily sensation.

Experiential detail: Focus on how things feel to encounter — the vibration of a train, the warmth of a hand, the pause before an answer, or the shift in a familiar voice.

Genre variety:

Love stories shaped by breathing, touch, humor, or presence.

Thrillers built on rhythm, silence, scent, or pressure changes.

Comic tales emerging from timing, voice, touch, or social habits.

Language use: Words like "beautiful" or "dark" may be used, but meaning should come from context and not visuals.

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Writing Tips From Dharini Bhaskar

Publisher, Fourth Estate and Perennial, HarperCollins India

When we think of short stories, we think of plot, of a pile-up of events, of action and consequence. But a short story is also music—and as with all music, the most significant moments lie in the pauses. I'd go so far as to say, the story is in the silence.

What is such silence built of? It is built of the scent of oranges or raw mangoes or jackfruit; of the smoothness of silk; of the tartness of lemons or the sweetness of cakes; of the tug of a hand. These often form the heart of a short story—these can be the entire story.

For, consider it: when people chase each other, or lose each other, or spend years thinking of each other, what they are really thinking of are sensations—sensations guided by touch, by smell, by taste, by the ear. And most significantly, sensations guided by a force that lives beyond the senses; a force that makes us human and alive; a force I'll call the heart.

Feeling—pain, joy, anxiety, anticipation, fear, love—is really what keeps me, the reader, invested in a story. It is what brings your story close to me. It is what makes me want to experience it with you; what makes me think about it long after the story is done.

Sensations are available to each of us—and it is what we need to lean into when we write. Lean into the coldest day of your life; into the morning you smelt apples and thought of someone; into why some sounds make you feel young and some make you feel so much older.

Ask yourself: what is the story here?

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Note from Anita Iyer Narayan, EKansh Trust: Welcome to the contest! From the moment the idea for this competition struck me many years ago, I have been excited to receive your stories. I hope that this time, too, you will all come up with imaginative, out-of-the-box entries that are both interesting and free of clichés. Every great story needs a clear beginning, middle, and end, and the real challenge is keeping the reader hooked—often long after the final page is turned.

Remember that we are raising the bar together this time! Wish you all the very best!

• POSTER PICTURES DESCRIPTION: 

• 1. Young lady working on a braille typewriter, probably drafting a story for us all!

• HarperCollins India Logo

• EKansh Trust Logo.