Hyphen Connects Contest: 2026
The inaugural Hyphen Connects Contest invites students from universities across India to write a personal essay on the experience of choosing and reading a book translated from an Indian language.
You can write about a book that you have read already, or choose to read a book you have not yet read, for the purpose of this essay. This book may be from your personal to-read collection, from a friend’s or faculty’s library, from your institutional library, from a bookstore; you may also take recommendations from others as part of this search. Books translated not only to English, but to other Indian languages are also welcome. However, your personal essay submission must be written in English.
The essay can cover various themes. What was the book about? How was the experience of reading this book? How did it speak to you? Did you know it was a translation when you picked it up? When did you find out, and did it change the experience? You could include details of how you came to the book as well in your essay, in case it feels relevant.
Submission Guidelines:
Ready to share your ideas with us? Here’s everything you need to know:
Keep it crisp: Your essay should be in English and no more than 400 words. Submit it by filling out the form below.
Send us a Word document: Please upload your essay as a downloadable Word document (.doc/.docx). Name your file in this format: YourName_Collegename_HCC
Mark your calendar: The deadline for submissions is September 7, 2026.
Get featured: Winners will receive free subscriptions to Hyphen and may also have their essays featured on our Hyphen Connects webpage.
So, what are you waiting for? Put your thoughts on paper and send them our way!