MANDIRA PATTNAIK

About the writer

Mandira Pattnaik is an Indian writer, editor, columnist, poet and writing instructor. Her poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and columns have been widely published and anthologized in 350+ venues. Longlisted for the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and eight-times Pushcart-Prize nominated, her fiction is included in Best Small Fictions Anthology (2021 & 2024) and in Best Microfiction anthology (2024). Her work has been listed in Wigleaf Top 50 List of Very Small Fictions (2023 & 2025), besides longlistings in the same list in 2022 (1), 2024 (1) and 2025 (3). She was adjudged Runner-up in Quarterly West Prose Contest 2025, Second-place in Bacopa Literary Flash Contest 2024, and secured high commendations in contests run by CRAFT and Litro Magazine US. Contrary Magazine selected her piece for inclusion in Selected Works 2003-2023 Best of 20 Contrary Years. Pattnaik is the author of collections “Anatomy of a Storm-Weathered Quaint Townspeople” (2022, Fahmidan, Poetry), “Girls Who Don’t Cry” (2023, ABP, Flash), “Where We Set Our Easel” (May, 2023, Stanchion Publishing, Novella) and “Glass/Fire” (2024, Querencia Press, Novella), and four microchapbooks and hybrid collections. Pattnaik has lent her time on the mastheads of several publications. At present, she serves as Assistant Editor, Best Small Fictions Anthology 2025; Associate Editor, Iron Horse Literary Review; Columnist, trampset and Contributing Editor, Vestal Review. Besides her writing projects, Pattnaik actively supports and promotes marginalized voices. This is made possible through her literary networks in the form of interviews and reviews of recently published books, and soliciting writing for the purpose of publication. She also publishes exclusive write-ups through special posts on her popular blog. Pattnaik holds a deep appreciation for versatility, navigating various genres and categories, choosing between speculative works, factual reportage, poetry, nonfiction and fiction. She endeavors to establish a connection with an international audience, despite the potential unfamiliarity of her themes, while maintaining truthfulness to her culture, identity, and belonging. Her objective is to address pressing issues that concern her, including the ecological crisis, class struggles, gender injustice, and forced climate migration, through her authentic writing. As an ESL writer based in the global south, she remains acutely aware of, and actively confronts, the challenges posed by language. In 2024, Granta magazine’s editors likened her work to that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Lacking academic support, formal mentorship, or financial backing, she aspires to secure funding this year to advance her extensive projects, which encompass a novel featuring multiple perspectives, cross-continental themes, and experimental elements set in 1990s India, alongside a speculative longer-length project, and a nonfiction book.

ANNUAL WRITING REPORTS