The Salam Award

Please read the rules on this page and feel free to reach out for any
clarifications via the contact form. We understand that life gets in
the way of deadlines, but no exceptions to the deadline will
be given!

Submission Deadline

July 31, of every year, Midnight Pacific Standard Time.

Results will be announced by September 30th, 2026.

Eligibility

  • Participants must either be currently residing in Pakistan, or be of Pakistani birth/descent.
  • Young and fledgling writers, irrespective of age and experience, are highly encouraged to submit – we want to read your work more!
  • Original content must be written entirely by you – AI-generated content is not allowed, nor are co-authors.
  • The story must be unpublished prior to this submission (not even on blogs) – simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please inform us if your submission is accepted elsewhere.
  • Entries must be in English. You are allowed to use other languages in your world building as long as the primary story is entirely in English.
  • World Limit: 10,000 words.
  • Mutliple and simultaneous submissions are not allowed.
  • By participating, you agree to publish your story on our website should it be selected to win.

NOTE: All participants should receive an automatic confirmation email upon submission. Please do not respond to that email, or DM/email us with your story details asking for confirmation as this may result in disqualification. We read the stories anonymously, thus, such emails and messages defeat the purpose of our rules in place.

Formatting Guidelines

  • Your story should be formatted in the Shunn Manuscript Format but please remove your names, byline, address and email from the manuscript. No identification information should appear anywhere in the body of the story because we read and judge the stories blindly.
  • IMPORTANT: Stories that do not follow proper formatting, have any of the author’s identification (including but not limited to name, byline, email, phone, etc.) present in the manuscript, or submit their story in any other format/file type other than the one advised will be immediately disqualified and the stories deleted without reading.
  • File Format: doc/.docx/PDF 

What’s Acceptable?