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CEPT Essay Prize 2025 Winners Announced

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The CEPT Essay Prize 2025 was awarded on 12 Feb 2026 at South Lawns, CEPT University, continuing an ongoing dialogue with future collaborators, writers, and researchers on architecture, settlements, and habitation in South and South-East Asia.

Instituted in 2018, the CEPT Essay Prize encourages young graduates from across the world to reflect critically on the social realities shaping our environments. With each cycle, the prize contributes to a growing body of essays marked by thoughtful inquiry, lucidity, empathy, and depth of understanding.

The 2025 edition, organised around the theme ​“Abandon,” received over 100 entries from across the globe and South Asia. Following a rigorous review process, 38 abstracts were shortlisted, and 12 essays were selected for publication in the CEPT Essay Prize 2025 book published by CEPT University Press.

The event began with a welcome note by Shabeeh Rahat, followed by the award distribution by jury member Tridip Suhrud. The winners and selected essay writers shared reflections on their essay topics, discussing the ideas, inspirations, and writing processes behind their work, offering insights that inspired emerging writers and participants present at the event.

The 2025 winners responding to the theme Abandon were:

  • First Prize – Iman B.
    Government Schools of Manipur: A Curious Case of Abandonment
  • Second Prize – Ramsha Midhat
    The Inheritance of Dust: Inhabiting the Abandonment of Malcha Mahal
  • Special Mention – Himanshu Garg
    Remains to be Seen: Reflections on Abandonment in the Digital Age
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During the event, the guest speaker Naveen Kishore — theatre lighting designer, photographer, filmmaker, poet, and founder of Seagull Books — delivered a talk titled ​“On Terrain.” Drawing on the metaphor of layers, he invited future writers to approach the theme ​“Terrain,” which sets the direction for the 2026 edition of the CEPT Essay Prize, with openness, curiosity, and aesthetic freedom.

The event also marked the unveiling of the CEPT Essay Prize 2025 book, published by CEPT University Press, by the guest speakers and members of the Essay Prize committee.

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The event concluded with conversations among participants, reaffirming the importance of reflective writing and critical inquiry in understanding the complexities of built environments. CEPT University looks forward to the next cycle of the CEPT Essay Prize and to continuing this dialogue with young writers across the world.

Apply for the 2026 edition: https://​cept​.ac​.in/​c​e​p​t​e​s​s​a​y​p​r​i​z​e2026

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