building support for South Asian and diasporic writing

South Asian Literature Journals

This is an ever-growing and evolving list. Please send suggested additions, changes, and updates to our webmasters, at webmaster@desilit.org.

  • Asian Pacific-American Journal (APAJ) -- lit journal put together by the AAWW (Asian-American Writers' Workshop)

  • Biblio: A Review of Books -- Biblio carries essays, satire and review articles by experts on subjects ranging from literature and the social sciences to all fields of culture including plastic and performing arts, cinema and various forms of social and political expression.

  • The Book Review "...is a monthly journal that has been published from New Delhi for over 30 years now. It provides critical, in-depth reviews of books published in India and abroad on a variety of subjects -- social sciences, humanities, fiction, management, environment, art, culture, science and children's literature. It provides a signal service to book lovers and scholars all over the country, including the small mofussil towns where access to the latest publications is difficult. It is a highly respected journal in India and abroad. In fact, it has a subscriber base of 5000+, which continues to grow. But the readership is far greater as it is also subscribed to by many institutions and embassies in India and abroad. The editors of this journal are Uma Iyengar and Chandra Chari.

    "Every November, there is a Children's Literature and Young Adult's Special that is guest-edited by Jaya Bhattacharji. The issue is a collection of book reviews and articles about children's literature within India and the Indian Sub-Continent. In recent years, we have noticed that this particular issue is practically sold out as soon as it hits the stands as it is not only the regular subscribers, but schools, educationists, academics, teachers, parents etc who buy this issue and preserve it for the entire year or beyond."

  • Catamaran -- a biannual literary print magazine publishing works by new and upcoming South Asian creative artists (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Bhutanese, Maldives) in North America.

  • Cerebration is a newly established online journal that strives to bridge the gap between academia and non academic circles across cultures. Cerebration strives to initiate a critical-creative discourse and is accessible by a wide audience. The editorial advisory board consists of people from various fields including Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak, Barkha Dutt, Cassandra Laity, Jack Lynch, amongst others from India and USA. Cerebration is currently calling for submissions in fiction, essays, poetry, columns and artwork.

  • Chowrangi -- a new Pakistani-American print publication. The first issue includes articles by Bapsi Sidhwa, Dawn journalist Irfan Husain, Qamar Adamjee, and other articles. Also an interview with Pakistani film-maker Sabiha Sumar.

  • Crimson Feet -- "Crimson feet is a forum for creative labour. We are collectively evolving new ways for the creative to work, exhibit and support themselves. We are also studying concrete ways in which small media / individual creators can intervene positively in society. We publish discussions, arguments, ideas and creations by seasoned as well as emerging artists & writers."

  • Desi Journal -- "Desi Journal is an online magazine that reflects the everyday lives of modern Indians living in the Diaspora -- desis. Our daily life is colored by our ethnicity, of course; but also by our adopted country and by our ability to adapt to changing and sometimes, challenging, circumstances. This journal is an attempt to capture some of these subtle (and not so subtle) experiences with openness and authenticity. We hope to make Desi Journal a scrapbook of our collective desi subconscious."

  • Himal -- print magazine with some online pieces

  • Hyphen Magazine -- "Hyphen is a news and culture magazine that illuminates Asian America through hard-hitting investigative features on the cultural and political trends shaping the fastest growing ethnic population in America. We offer in-depth profiles of change-makers in our community and a glimpse into the world of artists and writers who are re-envisioning and rewriting what it means to be Asian American. Through balanced and incisive reporting and sometimes irreverent commentary, we hold a mirror to the enormous richness, contradiction, and vitality that define the Asian American experience to stimulate debate, raise awareness, and build bridges within and beyond our community."

  • India Currents -- out of San Jose, though a general interest magazine, publishes one short story each issue and annually sponsors the Katha India Currents Fiction Contest. It is the only South Asian fiction contest that we are aware of in North America.

  • Kahani, literary magazine for South Asian elementary school age kids in the United States

  • Monsoon Magazine (online) -- "Monsoon Magazine's idea was born from a desire to fill in the gaps of existing South Asian and South Asian diasporic literature and art with a spectrum of beliefs. The deep-rooted connections of a shared history give the countries of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) an experience that is universal and yet utterly personal. What are these connections? Where have they brought us? And how will they shape our future? These are some questions Monsoon Magazine hopes to delve into and explore through its literature and art."

  • Persimmon (Asian American Lit Journal) -- "The current issue of Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture is available on-line. From January 2000 through the summer of 2002, Persimmon was published in a print edition. Copies of those issues -- each is a handsome volume, printed on acid-free, quality stock and perfect bound, with a full-color cover -- are available. Persimmon aims to both inform and entertain. Its mission is to bring to readers insights into Asia not readily available elsewhere."

  • SAMAR (South Asian Magazine for Action and Refleciton) -- "SAMAR (South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection) is a magazine/website with a South Asian focus based in the United States. We choose to use the term "South Asian" because we feel it is important to bring attention to the fact that South Asians are a group of people with a shared history and that this history provides a common basis for understanding our place in the contemporary world. Whereas most other South Asian magazines are based on differences of region, religion and nationality within South Asia, we have chosen to base ours on a South Asian collectivity that is now spread out across the globe. At SAMAR, we hope to reflect the full complexity of "South Asian" in the composition of the editorial collective, contributors and readers."

  • Shades Between -- "It's not just black and white. It's not just East or West. It's a fusion, it's a mix, it's all the Shades Between. It's who I am. Born into the shades of Eastern culture and raised in Western ways, next generation South Asians reflect a new shade in the evolution of culture and our identity. For culture is a living, breathing thing."

  • The Sala (South Asian Literature and Art Archive) -- (on hiatus, 10/04)

  • South Asian Review -- an academic journal of South Asian literary and cultural studies; a publication of SALA (the South Asian Literature Association), publishing since 1977

  • Toronto Review of Contemporary Writing Abroad (formerly Toronto South Asian Review)

  • Viewsunplugged! -- "A magazine combining creative writing and personal musings with provocative discussions on conventional topics as well as those ignored by the mainstream press. It was started to provide a freewheeling forum for expression to both aspiring as well as established writers. The site has been running for three years and we believe we have managed to post some interesting short stories, musings as well as thoughtful debates and essays."

  • Wasafiri -- "Wasafiri is edited by Susheila Nasta and published three times a year, in March, July and November. In nearly twenty years of publishing, Wasafiri has changed the face of contemporary writing in Britain. As a literary magazine primarily concerned with new and postcolonial writers, it continues to stress the diversity and range of black and diasporic writers world-wide. Wasafiri remains committed to its original aims: to create a definitive forum for the voices of new writers and to open up lively spaces for serious critical discussion not available elsewhere. It is Britain's only international magazine for Black British, African, Asian and Caribbean literatures."

  • Zubaan "...is an independent feminist publishing house based in New Delhi, India, with a strong academic and general list. It was set up by Urvashi Butalia as an imprint of the well known feminist house Kali for Women, and carries forward Kali's tradition of publishing world quality books to high editorial and production standards. "Zubaan" means tongue, voice, language, and speech in Hindustani. Zubaan is a non-profit publisher, working in the areas of the humanities, social sciences, as well as in fiction, general non-fiction, and books for young adults that celebrate difference, diversity and equality, especially for and about the children of India and South Asia under its imprint Young Zubaan. Working with Urvashi in Zubaan is a small editorial team that consists of Preeti Gill, Anita Roy and Jaya Bhattacharji."
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