about life's too short

The short story is what you make it. As a genre it has been used by writers as varied as Maupassant, Chekhov, Faulkner, Mansfield and Manto. It can be a gem consisting of a few paragraphs or the seed of a larger idea – both The Great Gatsby and The Sun also Rises started life as short stories.

The life’s too short Short Story Prize was conceived to reinvigorate this oft-neglected genre in Pakistan. With the increasing success of short story collections in the global publishing market, they are becoming big news again. Now we would like people to read yours.

Sponsored by the ZZ & Zohra Ahmed Foundation, entry to this competition is free of charge and the prize money is the most substantial for any such endeavour in Pakistan.

sponsor

The Z.Z. & Zohra Ahmed Foundation is the philanthropic wing of the Associated Group based in Lahore. Scholarships, chairs and research grants figure prominently in the foundation's efforts at capacity building and institutional support. Current commitments under consideration are an eye hospital on the outskirts of Lahore; a primary school in Jamshoro; adoption of public schools through an NGO in the Punjab; the sponsorship of a community park in partnership with the city government of Hyderabad; as well as the supply of 100,000 gallons per day of drinkable water to the community in Bhikhi. The foundation also spearheads the institutional support our companies and chairman have extended to institutions such as Government College University, The National College of Arts, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, and King Edward Medical College University.

administrators

Faiza S Khan

Columnist, critic, and editor

Aysha Raja

Bookseller, The Last Word