Congratulations to Shastri Akella, winner of the 2025 Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize, for “The Border Ghosts”, a ‘tender and haunting’ story of queer love on the Kashmir border that explores “themes of isolation, vulnerability, and connection across literal and figurative [boundaries]” (Ottessa Moshfegh, 2025 judge).
As this year’s winner, Akella will receive prize money, a week-long residency at the Civitella Ranieri artist’s retreat in Umbria, Italy, and a manuscript assessment through The Literary Consultancy.
This year’s runners-up are Alisha Dietzman’s “California”and Swithun Cooper’s “Expansion Street”.
As runners-up, Cooper and Dietzman will receive prize money. All three writers win a consultation with a literary agent from Johnson & Alcock.
To learn more about the prize, go to desperateliterature.com
