Introduced in 2006, the awards in this category have been won by poets, short story writers and playwrights. The volume of entries has grown exponentially over the years and has explored a diversity of styles and themes – from performance poetry to science fiction. The composition of the jury for these awards includes poets, literary critics, novelists, journalists, scholars and teachers from different parts of the country.
Shortlist 2026 – Creative Writing (English)
Toto Funds the Arts is delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2026 Toto Awards for Creative Writing (English)
1. Aditya Tiwari, Jabalpur
2. Bhumika Sanjeev, Bengaluru
3. Ifaam Bashir, Budgaam
4. Eshwari R, Bengaluru
We congratulate the shortlisted writers and request them to look out for a phone call or email from us for the next steps!
The TOTO Awards for Creative Writing in English are supported by Naboneeta Majumdar
(in memory of Dipali and Nitai Majumdar) & Sarita Vellani
Past Winners
Jayant Kashyap & Pranava VS (2025)
Zainab Ummer Farook, Faiz Ahmad (2024)
Moachiba Jamir, Aparna Chivukula (2023)
Aswin Vijayan, Uday Kanungo (2022)
Kunjana Parashar, Amulya B (2021)
Riddhi Dastidar, Noor Niamat Singh (2020)
Swati Simha, Shreya Ila Anasuya (2019)
Maya Palit, Urvashi Bahuguna (2018)
Arvind Jayan, Sohini Basak (2017)
Tushar Jain, Danish Shaikh (2016)
Mohit Parikh, Kaushik Viswanath (2015)
Rohan Chhetri, Mihir Vatsa (2014)
Swetanshu Bora, Aditi Rao (2013)
Ramneek Singh, Joshua Muyiwa (2012)
Deepika Arwind, Ishita Basu Mallik (2011)
Abhishek Majumdar, Ram Ganesh Kamatham (2010)
Aditi Machado, Neel Chaudhuri (2009)
Anindita Sengupta, Arka Mukhopadhyay (2008)
Monica Mody, Sneha Rajaram (2007)
Nisha Susan, Shakti Bhatt, SS Prasad (2006)