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Khanna writer Rajpreet among three finalists for prestigious Dhahan Prize
Benipal has been shortlisted for her Punjabi short-story collection ‘Qabran Vich Ugge Phull’ (flowers growing in a graveyard). She is the only finalist from India this year
Punjabi writer Rajpreet Kaur Benipal has brought international recognition to Khanna after being named one of three finalists for the 2026 Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature, a leading global honour for Punjabi fiction.
Benipal has been shortlisted for her Punjabi short-story collection ‘Qabran Vich Ugge Phull’ (flowers growing in a graveyard). She is the only finalist from India this year. The other two finalists are Amber Hosseini of Sargodha and Akmal Shazad Ghuman of Islamabad, both from Pakistan.
The three finalists were announced on August 18 at Surrey Libraries’ Newton branch in Surrey, British Columbia. They were selected from 58 eligible submissions received from Punjabi writers in Canada, India, Pakistan, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Benipal, who heads the postgraduate Punjabi department at AS College, Khanna, said the collection contains nine short stories dealing with a variety of subjects, including problems faced by teenagers. The title story focuses on the plight of a seven-year-old girl and her mother caught amid the conflict in Gaza.
Her first book, ‘Khamniyan Wala Pippal’, was published in 2007. Her latest achievement has been welcomed with pride by literary circles in Khanna, placing a writer from the city among an international field of Punjabi authors writing in both Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi.
Established in 2013 by the Canada-India Education Society (CIES) in partnership with the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, the Dhahan Prize recognises outstanding Punjabi novels and short-story collections. The award accepts works written in both Gurmukhi, used mainly in India, and Shahmukhi, used mainly in Pakistan.
With a cumulative prize purse of $51,000 CAD ( ₹35.35 lakh) each year, the Dhahan Prize is regarded as one of the major international awards dedicated to new Punjabi fiction. The prize was founded in Vancouver, a city with a strong Punjabi cultural and literary connection.
The three finalists will travel to Vancouver for the award ceremony on November 18, when the winner will be announced. An additional cash prize will support the transliteration of the three recognised books into Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi, helping make the works accessible to Punjabi readers across both script traditions.
Prize founder Barj S Dhahan said the finalists represent the creativity and diversity of Punjabi fiction and demonstrate the continuing strength of the literary tradition.
