Expert Eyes for New Voices
At Deodar, we recognise that as emerging writers you often do not have avenues to receive professional feedback or mentoring to refine your work and take the next step in your writing journeys (publishing, applying for writing programs, submitting your work to other contests or residencies). To make this possible, we have curated empanelled mentors. They are experienced editors with strong track records, yet hold a passion for encouraging and supporting new voices. For this reason, all editors are kind enough to partner with Deodar at discounted prices.
The mentors can read your short story and provide written feedback. Alternatively they can work with you over two calls to edit your piece and discuss pathways for visibility.
This is an invite only service.
If you are curious to learn more, please email us at info@deodarprize.in
Our Editors
Yauvanika Chopra
Tanuj Solanki
Tanuj Solanki is the author of four books of fiction. In 2019, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for his short-story collection Diwali in Muzaffarnagar. His last two novels, The Machine is Learning and Manjhi's Mayhem, were both longlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature. Tanuj's short fiction has been published in Granta, Catapult, Mint Lounge, and other notable Indian and international publications. A new collection of stories, Appropriation, is due in 2026. Tanuj is the founder of The Bombay Literary Magazine, where he has edited short fiction since 2013.
Abhay Puri
Abhay Puri is a writer and editor who has worked across industries and geographies. In 2022, he was selected as a South Asia Speaks Fellow, and he received an MA Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London in 2025. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Hammock, one of south Asia's leading literary magazines. He has served as an editor or advisor on several books, and his work has appeared in Helter Skelter, Craft and various publications.
Ayesha Anna Ninan
Ayesha Anna Ninan is an editor working across film and books. She has served on producer Guneet Monga’s development team and was an editor for the comedian/ actor Vir Das. Her projects have screened at international festivals including Clermont-Ferrand and the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. Her experience in shaping narratives onscreen informs her work on literary projects from short stories to illustrated memoirs. She has also written book reviews for publications including The Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Book Review India.
She is a guest lecturer at Whistling Woods International and teaches masterclasses on story development at writing labs. She holds an MFA in film production from NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia.
Our Mentors
Nadia Nooreyezdan
Ritika Bali
Ritika Bali was the runner-up for the 2024 Deodar Prize, the Ruskin Bond Literary Award, and the House of Harmony Contest, and was shortlisted for the 2025 RK Anand Short Story Prize and the Alpine Fellowship. Her work has appeared in Out of Print blog, Hammock Magazine, The Mistake House, MeanPepperVine, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Miami University and has several years of experience as a fiction editor and teaching creative writing.
Srividya Tadepalli
Srividya Tadepalli won the Deodar Prize in 2023 for Funeral for a Demon, published first online in The Bombay Literary Magazine and also in print in Bandigoat, an anthology by Blaft. Her short stories have appeared in Between Worlds: The IF Anthology of New Indian SFF, Vol 1 (Westland Books), A Case of Indian Marvels: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest New Writers (Aleph Book Company), and in Helter Skelter’s Anthology of New Writing, Volume 5.
Unmana
Unmana lives in Mumbai with their husband. Their novel Chikkamma Tours (Pvt.) Ltd is a murder mystery that features India’s first fictional queer detective. They write across genres—literary fiction, mystery, fantasy, poetry, and romance. Unmana’s work has been anthologised in The Deodar anthology (2023), The Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English 2024, and Skin Stories: Essays on Sexuality, Disability and Gender. Unmana was selected by Casey McQuiston as a Romantic Fiction Fellow at Lambda Literary’s 2026 Writers’ Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices.
