The Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for Women calls for women writers to submit for its 2026 competition. The competition serves as a beacon of encouragement for Pakistani women writers both at home and in the diaspora, and carries a cash award of Rs100,000.
In 2026, the call for submissions is for NON-FICTION. Contestants are invited to submit entries in the form of a narrative, polemical or satirical essay, memoir, biography or travelogue on any subject or theme that uses Pakistan as a canvas or location and focuses on the country’s culture and society.
Entries open on April 1 and close on June 30. The competition is open to all women of Pakistani nationality or Pakistani heritage over the age of 18 and, as always, the judges will be looking for writing with a distinct voice.
This year the panel of judges once again features eminent figures in the literary landscape:
• Sanam Maher is a journalist from Karachi. Her book, A Woman Like Her: The Short Life of Qandeel Baloch (Bloomsbury 2019) was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times and The New Yorker. Her work has appeared in Dawn, The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC and Al Jazeera, among other media. Since 2020, she has been a mentor for South Asia Speaks, a literary incubator for young writers in the region.
• Noreen Masud is an Associate Professor in English Literature at the University of Bristol, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker. Her memoir-travelogue, A Flat Place (Penguin 2023), was shortlisted for The Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award, The Jhalak Prize, The RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards.
• Sameer Rahim is a British novelist, critic and publisher with nearly two decades of experience in literary journalism. He has held editorial roles at publications including The London Review of Books, The Daily Telegraph, and Prospect magazine, and is currently publisher at The Bridge Street Press, a non-fiction imprint of Little, Brown (Hachette). Rahim has also served as a judge for several literary awards, including the Forward Prize for Poetry, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, the Costa Poetry Award, and the 2020 Booker Prize. Rahim’s novel Asghar and Zahra (John Murray, 2019) received critical acclaim and was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.
Full details on how to enter and comprehensive competition rules can be found on the website
For media enquiries please write to info@zhrwritingprize.com
Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, March 29th, 2026
