The 2017 Katha fiction contest winners have been announced. Alcatraz by Vrinda Baliga has won the first prize while Subterfuge in the Septagon by Mahanth Joishy has come second. Cherry Blossoms by Sandhya Acharya has won the third prize.

Two stories received honourable mentions: Exaptation by Samantha Rajaram and Garden of People by Neerja Raman.

The judges were Steve Kettmann and Sarah Ringler of the Wellstone Center.

Baliga’s story has been accepted for publication in the forthcoming 2018 Best California Fiction volume by Wellstone Books. The writer will receive a weeklong India Currents residency at the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods and a $300 cash prize.

Joishy’s prize-winning story will be developed into a novel by the same publisher. He will also receive a weeklong India Currents residency at the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods and a $200 cash prize.

Acharya, the winner of the third prize, will receive an Emerging Writer Residency at the Wellstone Center and a $100 cash prize.

The contest was co-sponsored by India Currents and the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods. India Currents is a print and digital media company that explores Indian culture as it exists in the United States. The Wellstone Center is a writer’s retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains that also publishes books through the Wellstone Books imprint.