Making it to the Orange Flower Awards 2020 by Women’s Web

January has been a kind month until now. My book has been getting some great responses and I have also been picking up a couple of awards for it. MFA coursework has started taking up every minute of my day. With the beginning of the mandatory courses this week, it has become extremely difficult to read anything beyond the reference materials and write very little beyond chasing the assignment deadlines.

In the first blog post of January, I had mentioned Orange Flower Awards by Women’s Web. Last year, I had made it to their shortlist for humor and travel writing. This year, the award ceremony gets bigger with celebrity film-makers, actors, entrepreneurs, authors and a host of achievers across the industries making their presence felt on the day of the event. Amidst of thousand of entries in various categories of blogging, social media, and video blogs, it is nothing short of a privilege to announce that my writing got me nominated in SEVEN categories (Yes, you read that right!). Parent Blogging, Humor writing, Writing with a social impact, Writing on Women at Work, Travelgram, Photogram and Best use of Twitter for social impact was where I found myself listed.

A couple of days ago, the list of Finalists was announced over the mail and it gives me great pleasure to write that I made it TWO categories as a Finalist – Writing on Women at Work and Best Use of Twitter for social impact. To see my name listed amidst a bunch of talented writers is an honor. The grand finale will be held on Jan 25th, tomorrow in Mumbai. I might not be able to travel from Kolkata to Mumbai for the event and felicitation ceremony but I am going to be there in spirit cheering for the voices of women across the country.

The suspense of whether I win the trophy, become a runner-up or get my finalist felicitation will be disclosed at the venue tomorrow. However, I feel that all the names that feature as Finalists across various categories are winners in their own way for having made it so far. Fingers crossed for 25th Jan. Stay tuned to know the final results and please wish me all the luck.

Finalist in the category of ‘Writing on Women at Work’

Finalist in the category of ‘Best use of Twitter for Social Impact’

P.S. – There will be a surprise announcement in February related to an upcoming event for writers. Subscribe to my blog and/or follow me on my social media handles to stay updated.

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

An alumnus of Presidency College (Kolkata), Delhi University, and XIME (Bangalore), Sonia Chatterjee holds two post-graduate degrees in Chemistry and Management and an MFA in creative writing from Writer's Village University. With eight years of experience in the banking sector as a Branch Head, she took a sabbatical from the corporate world to start her blog soniasmusings.com. Her blog consistently featured in the Top Indian Blogs list from 2019 to 2024. Her articles have been published on various digital platforms such as Women's Web, Youth Ki Awaaz, Tuck's Magazine, and Period Magazine. She was invited as a speaker at the Breaking Barriers, Kolkata 2018 event by the Women's Web, at the Women Writer’s Fest, Kolkata, 2020, and the Crime Writers Festival, Kolkata,2025. Sonia has written two detective thrillers titled ‘Deal of Death – Introducing Raya Ray’ (2019) and ‘Diary, Deceit, and Death – A Raya Ray Adventure’ (Vishwakarma Publications, 2024) and a non-fiction book on true crime titled ‘The Sanyasi Who Became a King’ (Sristhi Publishers, 2025). Her book ‘Diary, Deceit, and Death’ was shortlisted for the PVLF Awards 2024-25 in the Best Fiction Category. Sonia lives in Kolkata with her doctor husband and nine-and-a-half-year-old son. View all posts by Sonia Chatterjee