2017 Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction

The winner, finalists, and honorable mentions for the inaugural Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction have been announced:

Winner

  • “The Universe is a Conscientious Gardener”, Firuza Pastakia

Finalists

  • “The Last Interview of Lara Khalid”, Saniya Kamal
  • “Against the Dust”, Nur Ibrahim

Honorable Mentions

  • “Noor”, Taimoor Ahmad
  • “Rootless”, Maira Asaad
  • “Balochi Bots – The Adventures of Omar Jamshed”, Laila Kasuri
  • “The Short Life of Ali Lakri”, Zain Rashid Mian
  • “Sunless”, Saadia Pathan
  • “Symptoms of Prejudice”, Faraz Talat
  • “Contagion”, Jawziya Zaman

The Salam Award, “a short story award to promote science fiction and related genres of writing in pakistan,” is an annual award open to original fiction of 10,000 words or less written in English by authors who must be “currently residing in Pakistan, or be of Pakistani birth/descent.” Judges for this year’s award were Usman Malik, Mahvesh Murad, and Jeff VanderMeer. The official award page lists the winning prize as Rs 50,000 and review by a literary agent for potential representation, as well as review by an editor for possible publication. Tor.com notes that three finalists will each receive an editorial review by Ann VanderMeer and an agent review by Seth Fishman, and that the winner will receive the same plus $500.

Editor and agent reviews for the 2018 award will be by Diana Pho and Jennie Goloboy.

For more information, see the Salam Award site and the Tor.com announcement.