Issue 16: Fall 2020
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Fiction |
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Cotton, Grass and Rain
She smells of fresh laundry, of rain in strange lands. He knows now that her perfume is Cotton, Grass and Rain by Marc Jacobs. He likes the softness of her, because she makes him forget the hard edges of his mother, the dark corners of his loneliness, the dry scratch of his own thoughts.
Double X
Nishu wanted a Double X for his birthday. He confided this daily to his grandmother, Bernie, who, at eighty-three, had lived through a war, and endured displacement, and knew a weapon when she saw one.
Mustafa’s Wife
At times, she can’t remember his name. The nameplate outside the house says ‘Mustafa Muhammad’. The house belongs to Mustafa Muhammad, yet he is the visitor who comes and goes. She has come to understand these walls and they know her well, too. She sometimes reads to them, especially things that move her. The walls listen.
The Price of Goat
Dadu brings the thick, bright red curry in a bowl that Mummy uses to keep cut fruit. There is a shiny layer of oil along the edges; little pieces of meat float in the middle. “What do you think?” he asks. I am eager to try it. It’s only because I am hungry!
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Poetry |
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Small feelings
The New Word We Learned by Babitha Marina Justin
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Essays & Interviews |
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The Untaken Frame by Ricky Toledano
What really stopped me from pulling the trigger, placing my camera back in its holster, was a sensation similar to that which occurs just before picking a flower, when doubt shades the choice to possess beauty by destroying it.
Interview with Wanphrang Diengdoh by Sneha Krishnan
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Reviews |
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99 Nights in Logar by Jamil Jan Kochai
A literary feast.
Purple Lotus by Veena Rao
A polished narrative of survival and empowerment!
When Lovers Leave and Poetry Stays by Jhilam Chattaraj
Reads like an embalmed memory!
Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
To the Sitas of the world, with love!
Rituals by Kiriti Sengupta
Throws riddles at the reader!
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay
Raw brilliance!
