Announcing the 14th International Creative Writing Workshop, Ashoka University
Following on the great impact of the first nine University of East Anglia creative writing workshops led by Amit Chaudhuri since 2013 in India, and the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth workshops hosted by Ashoka University, the 14th international eight-day workshop will start from 1st June 2025.
As before, it will be led by its creator and course designer, the writer and musician Amit Chaudhuri, Director, Centre for the Creative and the Critical, Ashoka University. Chaudhuri (‘like Proust, he has mastered the art of the moment’, Hilary Mantel; ‘the best living writer of the English sentence’, Aditya Chakrabortty, BBC Radio 4; ‘one of the most consistently interesting writers working today’, Jon Day, Financial Times) is the author of eight novels, a book of stories, four collections of poetry, three books of essays, two works of non-fiction, and a critical study. His first three novels were reissued in 2024 in the New York Review Books Classics imprint with introductions by Colm Toibin, James Wood, and Wendy Doniger. Among the prizes he has won are the Commonwealth Writers Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, the James Tait Black Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Infosys Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Published writers, often picked up by leading publishers, have emerged steadily from the workshop in the last decade. Many have won or been shortlisted for national awards in India. Others have gone on to successfully complete MAs and MFAs in prose fiction from reputed universities around the world. The workshop has, from the start, drawn excellent participants from the world over.
The eight-day international workshop begins on 1st June, and ends on 9th June 2025. There will be a break on 5th June. This workshop group will comprise a maximum of 12 participants. Four participants will be chosen from applicants from Ashoka University. The other eight places are open to applicants worldwide.
It will take place online, and the daily timings for the workshop are 3 to 6 pm Indian Standard Time, or 10.30 am to 1.30 pm British Summer Time.
Participants should ideally have experience in creative writing and also be able to respond in detail to the works of other participants.
To apply to the workshop, please send us:
- a CV
- a writing sample of 1,500 words – published or unpublished; the sample should be what candidates consider to be their best work.
- a reference (optional)
- a short statement (300 words max) – explaining what you hope to contribute to and achieve in this workshop.
Applications should be submitted by email to creativewriting.workshop@ashoka.edu.in by 9th May 2025. The fee for the workshop is Rs 20,000 or its equivalent in other currencies. Ashoka University students’ fees are waived by the university but all other requirements remain the same for all applicants.
