In an unprecedented triumph for Indian literature, the esteemed Indian author and artist Sandeep Kumar Mishra has won both the Wells Story Prize-2024 in Wells, UK, and the Westerwood Story Prize-2024 in Glasgow, Scotland, announced on November 18 and November 19, 2024 respectively. These prestigious awards add yet another jewel to Mishra’s crown of international accolades, celebrating his unmatched storytelling prowess and poetic elegance. The Westerwood Story Prize is sponsored by the Scottish Association of Writers who has championed writers and writing groups across Scotland since 1969 and Wells Story Award is organized by Wells Festival of Literature, set up in 1992.

Douglas Bruton, the judge for ‘Westerwood Story Prize’ was all praise for his story, “The opening of this story grabbed me straight away and it was this opening that stayed with me after the very first reading. The story begins with a dramatic dream sequence and it is this dream that reoccurs through this story of a man locked in prison for a minor drug offence of which he might even be innocent. There are some good passages of writing in this story and the story is told with a confidence that is palpable. There’s a lovely relationship between the central character and his cell-mate. And the riddle of the dream has to be solved - in the dream world - and when it has been solved the impact is then felt in the real world, and I liked this element a lot”.