QUANTUM: In Your Words

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What happens when the world is not quite as certain as we think it is?

Quantum physics has transformed how we understand reality, challenging ideas of certainty, observation, cause and effect. Its concepts can feel strange, even counterintuitive—but they also raise questions that extend far beyond science: Can we exist in multiple possibilities? How connected are we to one another? What can we know, and what remains uncertain? How does our act of measuring change what we see?

As part of our upcoming exhibition season, QUANTUM, we invite writers aged 18–30 to respond to these questions through prose, poetry, creative nonfiction and essays.

We are interested in writing that takes inspiration from the ideas, questions and possibilities of quantum physics and finds unexpected connections with the world around us—with relationships, memory, technology, identity, society, or everyday life.

Novelist Anil Menon will provide mentorship and editorial feedback to help chosen writers develop their work. Final pieces will be published in the QUANTUM exhibition reader and presented as part of a public reading.

Timeline:

Call goes live: 27 September 2026

Call Closes: 27 October 2026

Writing workshop and Mentorship session: 14–15 and 21–22 November 2026

Public reading and Showcase: 27 December 2026

 Participation Guidelines

  1. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM IST on 27 October 2026
  2. You must be between 18 and 30 years of age to participate.
  3. You must be willing to travel to Bengaluru for the public showcase. Please note that we can only cover domestic travel for selected participants from within India.
  4. You can submit a maximum of three responses per person.
  5. Your submission must be in English.
  6. Please include the title of your work in your submission.
  7. Your submission can either be an Essay or in the form of Poetry.
  8. For Essay Submissions, Word count: 800 to 4,000 words. Choose a length that suits your story—short personal reflections, longer explorations and pieces of fiction are all welcome.
  9. For Poetry Submissions, Length: 10 to 60 lines. This can be one longer poem or up to three shorter poems (total not exceeding 60 lines). Style: All forms are welcome—free verse, spoken word, narrative poetry, haiku, or experimental forms.
  10. Entries must be submitted in .doc or .pdf file formats. The file should be named as follows: YourName_Title_IYW2026
  11. Text within the submission should be formatted in Calibri, size 12.
  12. Submissions are expected to be edited and proofread for grammatical accuracy prior to submission. We are unable to provide detailed, line-by-line edits.
  13. You retain all the rights to your work. By submitting your work, you will give Science Gallery Bengaluru the permission to use and publish your submission during QUANTUM, and your submission will be archived on the Science Gallery Bengaluru website.
  14. Your submission should not have won or placed in other competitions, or have been published in an official capacity in other magazines, exhibitions, etc.
  15. Selected participants must commit to participating in the mentorship sessions and to working with the Science Gallery Bengaluru editorial team on revisions to their piece for inclusion in the QUANTUM exhibition reader.

 

About the Mentor

ANIL MENON’s most recent work is the novel The Coincidence Plot (Simon & Schuster, 2023). It was preceded by a collection of his speculative short fiction, The Inconceivable Idea Of The Sun: Stories (Hachette, 2022). He is currently the chief editor of The Bombay Literary Magazine. 

 

About SGB

Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB) is India's only and Asia's first Science Gallery, a not-for-profit public institution at Sanjaynagar, Bengaluru. SGB was established with the founding support of the Government of Karnataka and academic partners Indian Institute of Science, and National Centre for Biological Sciences. Our work for research-based engagement works at the intersection of science, art, and society to engage young adults through Live Exhibitions, Public Engagement Programmes, Mentorship Initiative, and a pioneering Public Lab Complex.

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
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