December 3, 2023

Kayleigh Kitt turns the clock back in her delightful comedy of manners, and Mairead Robinson weaves a tragicomic tale on living with the inevitable.

It’s Unseasonably Warm for the Time of Year

Kayleigh Kitt

Harry’s Best Shoes, or, The Five Stages of Grief

Mairead Robinson

November 26, 2023

Sumaira Khalid recounts a smooth con job along the Persian Gulf in Ajman, UAE, and Akil Contractor reviews Gayatri Lakhiani Chawla’s unconventional handbook on numerology and spiritual healing.

The Great Camel Heist

Sumaira Khalid

An Unconventional Guide to Happiness — Gayatri Lakhiani Chawla’s Healing Elixir

Akil Contractor

November 19, 2023

Ojingiri Hannah goes bawdy in her salacious tale of men at “work” in Lagos, Nigeria, and Sarah Masters serves a humorous battle of wits in her electronic appropriation of the epistolary.

The Lagos Life

Ojingiri Hannah

Just click this link

Sarah Masters

November 12, 2023

Elancharan Gunasekaran narrates a redolent return to his family’s roots and rituals in Tamil Nadu, India, and Amy Grier reviews Steven Cramer’s musings on life, death, beauty and terror inspired by Rilke’s poetry.

Indian Summer and Faith

Elancharan Gunasekaran

Exploring the Intimate Space Between the Living and the Dead — Steven Cramer’s Departures from Rilke

Amy Grier

November 5, 2023

Sahana Ahmed remembers the legacy and quirks of a beloved Friend, and Hongwei Bao narrates a universal tale of human fears and façades.

Learning Perry

Sahana Ahmed

Straight Acting

Hongwei Bao

October 8, 2023

Julia Ruth Smith reminisces a rewarding family trip to scenic Gjirokaster in Albania, and Kendra Jackson amuses with her play on priorities at the end of the world.

That Day When We Were All Happy

Julia Ruth Smith

Never Let News of an Impending Apocalypse Affect the Time of Your Bake

Kendra Jackson

October 1, 2023

Stephen Mead pens a meditative piece baring the realm of his earthy soul, and Joyce Bingham recounts an adventure featuring obsessions, lost bargains, and death by love.

Becoming

Stephen Mead

Tobe Readpile

Joyce Bingham

September 24, 2023

Rahul Gaur writes of his travels to natural and human-made wonders, and Natalie Wolf shares slices of her feline overlord's multiverse of madness.

The Big Five and the Tall One

Rahul Gaur

When I Told My Cat He Couldn’t Go Outside

Natalie Wolf

September 17, 2023

Nuala McEvoy narrates her netherwordly adventures in neoclassical burlesque, and Mohini Sharda reviews Sahana Ahmed’s tale of love, catfights and other follies.

The Urine Sample

Nuala McEvoy

Wits, Brats and Heartaches — Sahana Ahmeds Combat Skirts

Mohini Sharda

September 10, 2023

Aneeta Sundararaj takes us on a divine journey to the cultural salad bowl, Alor Setar, and Sumitra Singam brings gods and humans together in a tale told in Indian pidgin.

Work of the Divine

Aneeta Sundararaj

After Going to Foreign Only I Saw Lord Vishnu

Sumitra Singam

September 3, 2023

Marie-Louise McGuinness weighs tradition against modernity in her vivid account of the Irish death ritual, and Hiram Larew bares foibles of our species in his lyrical discourse on the human comedy.

In Memory of the Irish Wake

Marie-Louise McGuinness

‘Lament’, ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’, and ‘Soap Bubbles’

Hiram Larew

August 27, 2023

David Larsen recounts his service years steeped in alcohol, war buddies and a duel with a train, and Teté DePunk dissects an acclaimed biopic revealing its near-perfect innards with surgical precision.

Alcohol, Trains and Miracles

David Larsen

Visionary vs. Visceral — Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer

Teté DePunk (Teresa Carstetter)

August 20, 2023

Victoria Leigh Bennett pens an inspiring essay on exhibiting grace under pressure, and Jahnavi Gogoi delights with anecdotes featuring eccentric family members and hemophobia.

Preparations for Grace, or, What to Do When the Music Stops Playing

Victoria Leigh Bennett

Blood, Sweat and Rosogulla

Jahnavi Gogoi

August 13, 2023

D.C. Nobes bleeds bittersweet memories of his last travels with a loved one, and Victoria Leigh Bennett orchestrates an interspecies crossover in her nursery rhyme-inspired nonsense verse.

Her Last Birthday

D.C. Nobes

Significant Sorrows

Victoria Leigh Bennett

August 6, 2023

Sarah Das Gupta visits glens, lochs, peaks and moors in a hitchhiker's guide to the Scottish highlands, and Alka Balain reviews Nikita Parik's acclaimed poetry collection rich in language, culture and metaphor.

To the Man in Slippers and a Whiskey Salesman — Northward Bound!

Sarah Das Gupta

A City Awakens into Consciousness — Nikita Parik’s My City is a Murder of Crows

Alka Balain

July 30, 2023

Doug Bruns muses on myth, mystery, faith and the Dionysian–Apollonian dichotomy in human culture, and Sudha Subramanian takes us on a dreamy birding trip to lush and beautiful Uganda.

Returning to Camp

Doug Bruns

Uganda, a Birder’s Haven

Sudha Subramanian

July 23, 2023

Arti Jain recounts her tragicomic adventures with body shaming and cultural stereotypes, and John RC Potter reviews Onkar Sharma’s poignant poetry addressing a loved one’s struggles with depression and suicide.

At Home in My Skin

Arti Jain

A Reflection on Life in the Face of Death — Onkar Sharma’s Songs of Suicide

John RC Potter

July 16, 2023

Corey Paige furnishes Oscar-approved writing advice on taking our demons head-on, and Eleanor Ball reviews three indispensable picks for craft book-wary writers like her.

The Road to the Promised Land

Corey Paige

3 Craft Book Recommendations from Someone Who Hates Craft Books

Eleanor Ball

July 9, 2023

Karen Walker tells shows the lilting life cycle of a short-lived liaison, and Gopal Lahiri with his trademark panache reviews Ajanta Paul’s poetic musings on life and death, time and change, and more.

She Did, Then Dumped Me Six Months Later

Karen Walker

Tapestry of Soul Poems — Ajanta Paul’s From the Singing Bowl of the Soul

Gopal Lahiri

July 2, 2023

Erinola Daranijo recounts a nerve-racking encounter with an unexpected visitor at a neighbour’s apartment, and Jerome Berglund reviews Dr Sunil Sharma’s cinematic short fiction capturing the full spectrum of the human condition.

Pitch Black

Erinola Daranijo

A Zeitgeist of Empathy — Sunil Sharma’s Burn the Library and Other Fictions

Jerome Berglund

June 25, 2023

François Bereaud reminisces having witnessed an ancient dance ritual on the Hopi reservation in Northern Arizona, and Achi Mishra, with her singular flair, pens confessions of a certain someone who has had enough.

Hopi Dance

François Bereaud

Alcoholics Anonymous

Achi Mishra

June 18, 2023

Sahana Ahmed takes us on an evocative reunion tour of the mountain city of Gangtok—her teenage crush, and Imelda Wei Ding Lo reviews R.N. Roveleh’s tale of gay warriors discovering identity, love and death amidst warring religions in 10th century Norway.

Meeting Gangtok

Sahana Ahmed

Lucky Wolf by R.N. Roveleh — A Medieval Tale about Identity, Love, and Death

Imelda Wei Ding Lo

June 11, 2023

Shahriar Shaams pens an elegant essay on growing up an oddball in Bangladesh while Melissa Flores Anderson regales with her razor-sharp prescriptions on how best to use the unread New Yorkers infesting a household.

Full Toss: On Loving Baseball in a Cricket Crazy Nation

Shahriar Shaams

Eight Ways to Use The New Yorkers Piling Up Around Your House

Melissa Flores Anderson