What Is BCWO

Bangladesh Creative Writing Olympiad is a literary space built on one conviction — that boldness matters more than correctness, and that a writer who tells the truth imperfectly is worth more than one who tells a lie beautifully.

We merge creative writing with philosophy, existential inquiry, psychology, science, and literature. We give participants stories that disturb and prompts that have no safe answers. We ask them to think and then write what they actually think — not what sounds acceptable, not what earns approval, but what is true.

In a country where open expression carries a social cost, we want BCWO to be the exception. The one place where your unfiltered thought is not a liability. Where your rebellion is not a problem to be corrected but a voice to be heard.

We are not building a competition.

We are building a community of thinkers — and Season 1 is where it begins.

This Is Your Season

Every writer who participates in Season 1 is not just a participant. They are a founding member of something that intends to last.

Our winners, judges, and ambassadors do not leave after the results are announced. They stay. They shape Season 2. They become the team. There is no single person running BCWO — every writer who passes through this space is part of what it becomes.

The 66 writers who receive accolades this season will be invited to lead Season 2 as official team members. The community we build now is the foundation on which everything else stands on.

This is the best time to join — because you will not just be participating in BCWO. You will be building it.

What We Offer

We will publish every single essay submitted in the Final Round — all 80 of them. Not just the winners. Every voice. So future participants can read what boldness looks like at every level. So readers can judge for themselves. So no writer walks away invisible.

Winners receive Penguin Black Small Classics — a minimum of 2 books, up to 5 for top finishers. All winners receive official certificates of recognition.

But the real offering is the community. The conversation. The chance to be known as someone who wrote something honest in a place that asked for exactly that.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for two kinds of people right now.

Writers — to participate in Season 1, survive the selection round, submit a Final Round essay, and become part of the founding generation of BCWO.

Judges and Community Members — people who care about literature, freedom of expression, and the development of young writers in Bangladesh. People who want to read seriously and evaluate fairly.

If either of those is you, the door is open.

Competition Structure — Brief Overview

Round I — Selection You receive one or more literary or philosophical short stories. You respond to open-ended tasks — no MCQs, no memorisation, no fixed answers. 48 hours. Up to 400 words per task.

Final Round — The Essay 100 writers advance. One prompt. 1500 words maximum. Write however truth demands to be written. All 80 submitted essays published on our website.

66 writers receive accolades.

Full structure available in the Competition Structure section.

A Note On Freedom

BCWO has an AI policy, a plagiarism policy, and a few rules that exist for fairness. Follow them.

Everything else — structure, style, tone, form, convention — is yours to break if breaking it serves the writing. We have never believed that good writing looks a particular way. We believe good writing feels a particular way.

Write like it matters. Because to us, it does.

Register

Season 1 registration closes at 500 participants. No extensions.

Early Bird — 600 BDT until 30th May

Regular — 650 BDT from June