The Best Desi Short Stories
What exactly is âDesiâ fiction? For one, itâs a catch-all for stories that are produced by authors in the region of South Asia â which covers India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives, and Afghanistan â as well as authors around the world coming from the South Asian diaspora.
And for another, itâs a genre thatâs in the midst of a fantastic boom. You probably already know, for instance, about Mindy Kalingâs autobiographical Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)! But the depth and breadth of Desi stories stretch far beyond that. Thereâs Jhumpa Lahiriâs The Namesake, a generational classic. Thereâs everything by Salman Rushdie. Thereâs Adiba Jaigirdar bursting onto the YA and LGBTQ+ scene with The Henna Wars, and Samit Basuâs mind-boggling GameWorld Trilogy over in the realm of fantasy. In short, Desi fictionâs got every kind of story â and also the perspectives that makes it a lot more.
Looking for some of the best Desi stories?
Well, weâve got good news for you! Our directoryâs got some of the best Desi stories written by the next great Desi authors. Theyâre collected from the stories submitted over the past few years to our weekly short story competition. And if you go to the top of the page, youâll find the shortlisted stories that stood out the most to our panel of judges. We also anthologise the best stories in our new literary magazine, Prompted, which you can download for free.
If you find a Desi author who you just click with, thereâs even more good news: you can get instant notifications that alert you to any of their new stories, just by clicking âfollowâ! Donât forget that you, too, can submit a short story to our competition. Who knows? It might be you walking away with the cash prize next time.