Toto Awards for Creative Writing in English 2023: Call for Applications

 TOTO AWARDS 2023 CREATIVE WRITING IN ENGLISH CALL FOR ENTRIES

 NOTE: The last date to submit applications has been shifted to 30 September 2022.

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) invites applications from persons between the ages of 18 and 29 for the 2023 TOTO Awards for Creative Writing in English in three genres: short plays, short stories and poetry. 

Two winners, to be decided by an independent panel of jurors, will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each. Soft copies of the entries should reach TFA by 15 September 2022 at the latest.

These awards are meant only for Indian citizens. (Overseas Citizen of India card-holders are not eligible.) And since the spirit of the awards is to identify promising young writers, you can apply if your birthday falls between 1 January 1993 and 1 January 2005. No exceptions will be made.

 

The soft copy of each entry MUST be accompanied by an Application Form, which you can copy-paste from this link. You can also request a copy of the form by writing to toto.tfaawards@gmail.com. No entry will be accepted without this form, with all particulars filled in, along with your name as it appears in your bank account, and signature. You can use a digital signature or take a printout of the form, sign, scan and email it.

Entries should be sent in 12 pt Times New Roman, with 1.5 line space. 

Each entry should be not more than 7,500 words (except in the case of plays).

If you are submitting poems, please send us between 8 and 12 poems. 

If you are submitting short stories, their combined word length should be at least 2,500 words. You can, if you wish, send only a single story of 2,500 to 7,500 words.

For plays, you may submit one or more plays, but the combined word length of your entry should not exceed 10,000 words. 

You can send entries in all three categories — poetry, short stories and plays — but you must send in a separate entry for each category. For example, your poems can constitute one entry, your short stories the second entry, and plays a third. 

Those who have applied previously are eligible to apply again (unless you have won this TOTO Award) but please submit new work for consideration.

The subject line of your email should clearly state the category for which you are applying, e.g., Writing-English (poetry) or Writing-English (short fiction), or Writing-English (plays). 

Your entry and application form should be sent as separate attachments on your email (MS Word document only) to toto.tfaawards@gmail.com

Also ensure that with the exception of the Application Form, your name should appear NOWHERE, either on any page or in the title of your MS Word document. 

If you have any further questions, please write to the email address given above. 

The Fine Print: Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury will be final and cannot be contested in any forum. We reserve the right to use your submitted writings (if necessary) to publicise the awards either on our blog, website or in any in-house materials such as a newsletter. Otherwise, the copyright rests with the writer and your submission will be put to no other use without your express permission. 

These awards are being supported by the Mani Rao Foundation and Naboneeta Majumdar

Toto Funds the Arts is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films

TFA encourages and supports young emerging talent in the arts in India.

Toto Awards for Creative Writing in English 2022: Call for Applications

TOTO AWARDS 2022

CREATIVE WRITING IN ENGLISH

CALL FOR ENTRIES

 

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) invites applications from persons between the ages of 18 and 29 for the 2022 TOTO Awards for Creative Writing in English in three genres: short plays, short stories and poetry. 

Two winners, to be decided by an independent panel of jurors, will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each. Soft copies of the entries should reach TFA by 15 September 2021 at the latest.

These awards are meant only for Indian citizens resident in India. (Overseas Citizen of India card-holders are not eligible.) And since the spirit of the awards is to identify promising young writers, you can apply if your birthday falls between 1 January 1992 and 1 January 2004. No exceptions will be made.

 

The soft copy of each entry MUST be accompanied by an Application Form, which you can copy-paste from totofundsthearts.blogspot.com  You can also request a copy by writing to toto.tfaawards@gmail.com  No entry will be accepted without this form, with all particulars filled in along with your name and signature as it appears in your bank account. 

Entries should be sent in 12 pt Times New Roman, with 1.5 line space. 

Each entry should be not more than 7,500 words (except in the case of plays).

If you are submitting poems, please send us between 8 and 12 poems. 

If you are submitting short stories, their combined word length should be at least 2,500 words. You can, if you wish, send only a single story of 2,500 to 7,500 words.

For plays, you may submit one or more plays, but the combined word length of your entry should not exceed 10,000 words. 

You can send entries in all three categories — poetry, short stories and plays — but you must send in a separate entry for each category. For example, your poems can constitute one entry, your short stories the second entry, and plays a third. 

Unless you have won this TOTO Award earlier, you are eligible to apply again, but please submit new work for consideration.

The subject line of your email should clearly state the category for which you are applying, e.g., Writing-English (poetry) or Writing-English (short fiction), or Writing-English (plays). 

Your entry and application form should be sent as separate email attachments (MS Word document only) to toto.tfaawards@gmail.com. 

Also ensure that with the exception of the Application Form, your name should appear NOWHERE, either on any page or in the title of your MS Word document. 

If you have any further questions, please write to the email address given above. 

The Fine Print: Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury will be final and cannot be contested in any forum. We reserve the right to use your submitted writings (if necessary) to publicise the awards either on our blog, website or in any in-house materials such as a newsletter. Otherwise, the copyright rests with the writer and your submission will be put to no other use without your express permission. 

These awards are being supported by the Mani Rao Foundation and 

Naboneeta Majumdar (in memory of Dipali and Nitai Majumdar)  

Toto Funds the Arts is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films.

TFA encourages and supports young emerging talent in the arts in India.

Toto Award for Creative Writing in Kannada 2021: Long-list

Twelve writers have been long-listed for the 2021 Toto Award for Creative Writing in Kannada. Their names, in alphabetical order, are:

1. Amulya B, Bengaluru

2. Ananth, Kenchanahalli, Tumakuru District

3. Chaitrika Naik, Siddapura 

4. Dadapeer Jaiman, Bengaluru

5. Kapil Humnabade, Kalaburagi

6. Kavyashree Naik, Honnavara

7. Mallamma Jondi, Shikkeri, Bagalkot District

8. Sahamatha, Putturu

9. Sandeep Eshanya, Mysuru

10. Shreeranjan, Putturu

11. Snehajaya Karanth, Bengaluru

12. Vighnesh Hampapura, Mysuru

The shortlist for this award will be announced in January 2021. The winner will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000. TFA congratulates the long-listed writers and wishes them all the best. 

Toto Awards for Creative Writing (English) 2021: Long-list

Thirty writers, from a list of 232 applicants, have been long-listed for the 2021 Toto Awards for Creative Writing in English. Their names, in alphabetical order, are:

1. Aahan Desai (Bengaluru)

2. Abhimanyu Jitendra Acharya (Ahmedabad)

3. Aishwarya Mishra (Jamshedpur)

4. Alolika A Dutta (Mumbai)

5. Amulya B (Bengaluru)

6. Annika Taneja (New Delhi)

7. Aparna Chivukula (Bengaluru)

8. Avani Tandon Vieira (Mumbai)

9. Ayesha Susan Thomas (Bengaluru)

10. Bhavika Govil (Noida)

11. Debarshi Mitra (Pune)

12. Debosmita Dam (Bengaluru)

13, Fareeha Hussain (Bengaluru)

14. Fathima Zahra (Thrissur)

15. Ila Ananya (Bengaluru)  

16. Karan Kapoor (New Delhi)

17. Kunjana Parashar (Mumbai)

18. Mahesh Krishna (New Delhi)

19. Medha Singh (New Delhi)

20. Michelle Wendy D'costa (Mumbai)

21. Neha Gupta (New Delhi) 

22. Poorna Swami (Bengaluru)

23. Prashant Parvatneni (Bengaluru)

24. Rahee Punyashloka (Bhubaneswar)

25. Satya Prakash Dash (Bengaluru)

26. Suhasini Patni (Jaipur)

27. Tushar Rishi (Ranchi)

28. Uday Kanungo (Bhubaneswar)

29. Vismaya Vishwa (Bengaluru)

30. Zainab Ummer Farook (Kozhikode) 

Two winners will each receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000.  The shortlist will be announced in January 2021. Toto Funds the Arts congratulates the long-listed writers.

 

Toto Awards for English Creative Writing 2021: Call for Entries

TOTO AWARDS 2021

CREATIVE WRITING IN ENGLISH

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) invites applications from persons between the ages of 18 and 29 for the 2021 TOTO Awards for Creative Writing in English in three genres: short plays, short stories and poetry. 

Two winners (one for Poetry and one for Short Fiction/Plays), to be decided by an independent panel of jurors, will receive a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each. Soft copies of the entries should reach TFA by 31 August 2020 at the latest.

These awards are meant only for Indian nationals resident in India. (Overseas Citizen of India card-holders are not eligible.) And since the spirit of the awards is to identify promising young writers, you are eligible to apply if you were born on or after 1 January 1991. No exceptions will be made.

The soft copy of each entry MUST be accompanied by an Application Form, which you can copy-paste from https://totofundsthearts.blogspot.com/2020/07/toto-awards-for-english-creative_3.html You can also request a copy by writing to toto.tfaawards@gmail.com  No entry will be accepted without this form, with all particulars filled in along with your name and signature as it appears in your bank account. 

Entries should be sent in 12 pt Times New Roman, with 1.5 line space. 

Each entry should be not more than 7,500 words (except in the case of plays).

If you are submitting poems, please send us between 8 and 12 poems. 

If you are submitting short stories, their combined word length should be at least 2,500 words. You can, if you wish, send only a single story of 2,500 to 7,500 words.

For plays, you may submit one or more plays, but the combined word length of your entry should not exceed 10,000 words. 

You can send entries in all three categories — poetry, short stories and plays — but you must send in a separate entry for each category. For example, your poems can constitute one entry, your short stories the second entry, and plays a third. 

The subject line of your email should clearly state the category for which you are applying, e.g., Writing-English (poetry) or Writing-English (short fiction), or Writing-English (plays). 

Also ensure that NO page of your entry, with the exception of the Application Form, carries your name on it. 

Unless you have won this TOTO Award earlier, you are eligible to apply again, but please submit new work for consideration.

Entries should be sent by email (MS word document only) to toto.tfaawards@gmail.com

If you have any further questions, please write to the email address given above. 

The Fine Print: Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury will be final and cannot be contested in any forum. We reserve the right to use your submitted writings (if necessary) to publicise the awards either on our blog, website or in any in-house materials such as a newsletter. Otherwise, the copyright rests with the writer and your submission will be put to no other use without your express permission. 

These awards are being supported by The Jamun, a residential space for writers, artists and scholars, and poet and translator Mani Rao.

Toto Funds the Arts is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films.

TFA encourages and supports young emerging talent in the arts in India.

The TOTO-SANGAM Residency Fellowship 2020-21: Call for Applications

THE TOTO-SANGAM RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIP 2020-21

Toto Funds the Arts, in partnership with Sangam House, is delighted to announce a two-week
residency fellowship for writers at Sangam House.

The fellowship will cover board and lodge for a two-week period at the Sangam House
International Writers' Residency located at The Jamun in Bangalore.

(For more information about Sangam House, please visit www.sangamhouse.org Also visit www.thejamun.com)

The fellowship is open to anyone who has either won or been short-listed for the TOTO Creative
Writing Awards since their inception in 2006. Please note that the fellowship does not include a
stipend or cover costs of transport/travel to and from Sangam House.

Applications from the following genres of writing are welcome: poetry, fiction, drama and nonfiction.

Your application must include:
- a one-page statement describing what you intend to work on while at Sangam House

- a recent writing sample of not more than 5,000 words.

Applications should reach Sarita Vellani at sarita.tfaindia@gmail.com no later than 16 August 2020. If you have any questions, write to the email address provided or call +919880623357.

This Sangam House session will run from 1 November 2020 to 31 January 2021. Please do not apply if you are not available during that time.

The exact dates of the two-week slot between November 2020 and January 2021 will be decided
by the end of August 2020.

The name of the recipient of the fellowship –– to be determined by Sangam House ––
will be announced at the end of September 2020 by the latest.

All applications must be sent by email with a covering note (which mentions your date of birth, your
current occupation, your phone number and your postal address) and two attachments, one each
for your statement of purpose and your writing sample.

NB: If you have been awarded a residency at Sangam House since 2015, you are not eligible to
apply this year.

*******

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS

Please be assured that Sangam House and The Jamun are already working on sanitisation and person to person contact protocols to be enforced during the residency. Our decisions for the moment are that social distancing will be maintained, that all residents will bring a pair of house slippers and leave other footwear outside the house and that bags and other travel items will be wiped down before entering the living space. All food will be prepared at The Jamun, our housekeeper/manager who lives on the premises, and our daily cleaning person will both be wearing masks and gloves at work
and bed and bath linens will be changed on an accelerated schedule.

We are monitoring the situation daily and will change our health and safety measures
accordingly. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

*******

Toto Award for Kannada Creative Writing 2020: Shortlist

Three writers have been shortlisted for the 2020 Toto Award for Creative Writing in Kannada. They are (in no particular order):

1. Chaitrika Naik, Siddapura, Uttara Kannada

2. Shashi Tarikere, Bengaluru

3. Musthafa K H, Mangaluru 

TFA congratulates the shortlisted applicants and wishes them best of luck! 

The winner will be announced at the Toto Awards function in Bengaluru on 15 February 2020.

Toto Awards for English Creative Writing 2020: Shortlist

Five writers have been shortlisted for the 2020 Toto Awards for Creative Writing in English. They are (in no particular order):

1. Poorna Swami, Bengaluru

2. Tashan Cyrus Mehta, Mumbai

3. Ila Ananya, Bengaluru

4. Riddhi Dastidar, New Delhi

5. Noor Niamat Singh, Bengaluru

The two winners will be announced at the Toto Awards function on 15 February 2020 in Bengaluru.   

The Toto-Sangam Residency Fellowship 2019-20: Call for Applications

THE TOTO-SANGAM RESIDENCY FELLOWSHIP 2019-20

Toto Funds the Arts, in partnership with Sangam House, is delighted to announce a two-week residency fellowship for writers at Sangam House. 

The fellowship will cover board and lodge for a two-week period at the Sangam House International Writers' Residency located at The Jamun in Bangalore. (For more information about Sangam House, please visit www.sangamhouse.org. Also visit www.thejamun.com)

The fellowship is open to anyone who has either won or been short-listed for the TOTO Creative Writing Awards since their inception in 2006. Please note that the fellowship does not include a stipend or cover costs of transport/travel to and from Sangam House. 

Applications from the following genres of writing are welcome: poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction.

Your application must include:

- a one-page statement describing what you intend to work on while at Sangam House

- a recent writing sample of not more than 5,000 words.

Applications should reach Sarita Vellani at sarita.tfaindia@gmail.com no later than 10 August 2019. If you have any questions, write to the email address provided or call +919880623357.

This Sangam House session will run from 1 November 2019 to 31 January 2020. Please do not apply if you are not available during that time.

The exact dates of the two-week slot between November 2019 and January 2020 will be decided by the end of August 2019.

The name of the recipient of the fellowship –– to be determined by Sangam House –– will be announced at the end of September 2019 by the latest.

All applications must be sent by email with a covering note (which mentions your date of birth, your current occupation, your phone number and your postal address) and two attachments, one each for your statement of purpose and your writing sample.

NB: If you have been awarded a residency at Sangam House since 2014, you are not eligible to apply this year.

Toto Award for Kannada Creative Writing: Call for Entries

                           TOTO AWARDS 2020

                         CREATIVE WRITING IN KANNADA

                                                              CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) invites applications from persons between the ages of 18 and 29, for its 2020 Toto Award for Creative Writing in Kannada in three genres: short plays, short stories and poetry. The winner, chosen by an independent panel of jurors, will receive Rs 50,000.  Entries should reach TFA by 27 August 2019 at the latest. 

The awards are meant only for Indian citizens resident in India (Overseas Citizen of India card-holders are not eligible.)  And, since the spirit of the awards is to identify promising young writers, you are eligible to apply if you were born on or after 1 January 1990. No exceptions will be made. 

The hard copy and soft copy of each entry MUST be accompanied by an Application Form, which you can copy-paste from totofundsthearts.blogspot.com.  You can also request a copy by writing to tfa.kannada@gmail.com. No entry will be accepted without the Application Form, with all the particulars filled in, along with your name and signature as it appears in your bank account. 

Each entry should be not more than 7,500 words (except in the case of plays).

If you are submitting poems, please send 8 to 12 poems.

If you are submitting short stories, their combined word length should be between 2,500 and 7500 words. You may, if you wish, send only a single story of 2,500 to 7,500 words.

For plays, you may submit a single play or two or three, but their combined word length should not exceed 10,000 words.

You can send entries in all three categories — poems, short stories and plays — but you must send in a separate entry for each category. For example, your poems can constitute one entry, your short stories a second, and plays a third. Please submit only a typed hard copy of your entry or entries. Please state the awards category for which you are applying on the envelope, e.g., Writing-Kannada (poetry) or Writing-Kannada (play) or Writing-Kannada (short story).  

Also ensure that no page of your entry, with the exception of the Application Form and the envelope in which you send your entry, carries your name on it. 

Unless you have won this TOTO Award earlier, you are eligible to apply again, but please submit new work for consideration.

Entries should be sent by e-mail (MS word document only) to tfa.kannada@gmail.com. The hard copy should be sent by courier or ordinary post only (and NOT by speed post or registered post) to the address below (the phone numbers supplied are for courier purposes only):  

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA)

H 301 Adarsh Gardens

47th Cross, 8th Block

Jayanagar

Bangalore 560 082

Phone 080 26990549/098806 23357

If you have any further queries please email tfa.kannada@gmail.com or call   +919844264157

The Fine Print: 

Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury will be final and cannot be contested in any forum. We reserve the right to use your submitted writings (if necessary) to publicise the awards either on our blog, website or in any in-house materials. Otherwise, the copyright rests with the writer and your submission will be put to no other use without your express permission.

This award is being supported by Bhoomija Trust, which hosts performing arts programmes across venues in Bangalore, India and abroad.

Toto Funds the Arts is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films.  TFA encourages and supports emerging talent in the arts in India.

Toto Awards for English Creative Writing: Call for Entries

TOTO AWARDS 2020

CREATIVE WRITING IN ENGLISH

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) invites applications from persons between the ages of 18 and 29 for the 2020 TOTO Awards for Creative Writing in English in three genres: short plays, short stories and poetry. 

Two winners, to be decided by an independent panel of jurors, will receive a cash prize of  Rs 50,000 each. Both hard and soft copies of the entries should reach TFA by 27 August 2019 at the latest.

These awards are meant only for Indian nationals resident in India. (Overseas Citizen of India card-holders are not eligible.) And since the spirit of the awards is to identify promising young writers, you are eligible to apply if you were born on or after 1 January 1990. No exceptions will be made.

The hard copy and soft copy of each entry MUST be accompanied by an Application Form, which you can copy-paste from totofundsthearts.blogspot.com.  You can also request a copy of the Application Form by writing to sarita.tfaawards@gmail.com No entry will be accepted without this form, with all particulars filled in along with your name and signature as it appears in your bank account. 

The hard copy of the entry should be printed on one side of the paper (A-4 size) only and must use an easily readable font and size (e.g. Times New Roman, 12 pt), with 1.5 line space. 

Each entry should be not more than 7,500 words (except in the case of plays).

If you are submitting poems, please send us between 8 and 12 poems. 

If you are submitting short stories, their combined word length should be at least 2,500 words. You can, if you wish, send only a single story of 2,500 to 7,500 words.

For plays, you may submit one or more plays, but the combined word length of your entry should not exceed 10,000 words. 

You can send entries in all three categories — poems, short stories and plays — but you must send in a separate entry for each category. For example, your poems can constitute one entry, your short stories the second entry, and plays a third. 

Please state the category for which you are applying on the envelope, e.g., Writing-English (poetry) or Writing-English (short fiction), or Writing-English (plays). 

Also ensure that NO page of your entry, with the exception of the Application Form and the envelope containing your entry, carries your name on it. 

Unless you have won this TOTO Award earlier, you are eligible to apply again, but please submit new work for consideration.

Entries should be sent by email (MS word document only) to sarita.tfaawards@gmail.com. The hard copy should be sent by courier or ordinary post (and NOT by speed post or registered post) to the address below (the phone numbers supplied are for courier purposes only):  

Toto Funds the Arts (TFA)

H 301 Adarsh Gardens

47th Cross, 8th Block

Jayanagar

Bangalore 560 082

Phone 080 26990549 / 09880623357

If you have any further questions, please email sarita.tfaawards@gmail.com.  No queries will be answered on the phone.

The Fine Print: Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury will be final and cannot be contested in any forum. We reserve the right to use your submitted writings (if necessary) to publicise the awards either on our blog, website or in any in-house materials such as a newsletter. Otherwise, the copyright rests with the writer and your submission will be put to no other use without your express permission. 

These awards are being supported by The Jamun, a residential space for writers, artists and scholars; and Salmin Sheriff, playwright, actor and director.

Toto Funds the Arts is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films.

TFA encourages and supports emerging talent in the arts in India.