Anjana Menon wins Asian Prize for Short Story 2025

Writer and columnist Anjana Menon has won the Asian Prize for Short Story 2025 for her work Rosamma’s Boy, the organisers announced on January 1 (January 1).

In a statement, the jury described Rosamma’s Boy as standing out for its “authentic voice, emotional resonance, and the masterful way it brings together the intimate and the universal.” The organisers also said they looked forward to sharing the story with readers worldwide.

The 2025 jury included Malachi Edwin Vethamani (Malaysia), Natasha Sharma (India), Smriti Ravindra (India–Nepal), Taisiia Nakonechna (Ukraine), and Nahida Esmail (Tanzania).

Chosen from hundreds of submissions

Menon’s story was selected from hundreds of submissions from across the world. The jury cited its compelling narrative voice, emotional depth and literary craftsmanship, noting its ability to weave intimate personal experience with universal themes that transcend cultural boundaries.

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Rosamma’s Boy marks Menon’s first serious work of fiction. Set in Kerala, the story centres on a widow and her child with special needs, exploring the role of community and religion in everyday life.

Menon is an accomplished columnist who has held editorial leadership roles in many publications. She has published non-fiction with Penguin and HarperCollins, and her narrative non-fiction, Onam in a Nightie, was longlisted for the JK Author Awards in 2023, which recognises exceptional writing by women.

She currently divides her time between India and the United Kingdom.

The Asian Prizes recognise outstanding contributions to global literature across fiction, short story and poetry. The awards are overseen by the Asian Group of Literature and decided through a multi-tiered evaluation process involving evaluators from diverse literary backgrounds. All longlisted short stories are published in the Asian Journal of Literature.