Meet our amazing contributors for Issue 18: Homebound!
Amal Muhammad Abu Al-Rish is a teacher, mom, and amazing individual who is currently living through the genocide in Gaza, Palestine. She has graciously allowed us to share her story in hopes that it may reach an audience who can help her and her family survive. Her GoFundMe is linked throughout and clickable. Anything Helps.
Snehal Amembal (she/her) is a freelance writer, editor and poet based in Surrey, UK. Her writing primarily reflects her motherhood journey, memories of her own childhood and the essence of everyday moments which she records in her blog ‘ Notes On The Go’. She has authored 3 poetry chapbooks – Pause, I Am and In between Love.. Her work has appeared in anthologies and literary zines. Finally, she is a Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease (YOPD) warrior and creates awareness about the condition through her writing.
Nuances
Foreign Tongue
Janis Butler Holm (she/her/hers) served as Associate Editor for Wide Angle, the film journal, and currently works as a writer and editor in sunny Los Angeles, USA. Her prose, poems, art, and performance pieces have appeared in small-press, national, and international magazines. Her plays have been produced in the U.S., Canada, Russia, and the U.K.
Study B
Lucia Duero (she/her) from Slovakia is a writer, poet and literary translator based in Mexico City.
Neighboring a War
Rija Farhan (she/her) is a student in Australia. Interested in historical fiction and non-fiction, she loves stories that connect with her cultural roots and explore new perspectives of historical events.
Midnight Tracks
Nisha Ghani (she/her/they) is a multidisciplinary artist from Lahore, Pakistan with a love for banana bread . Her work revolves around memory and object association, particularly in South Asian culture and history. She has exhibited locally and internationally, in Lahore, Islamabad, London and Turkey. Her work has also been published in Acierage V1 and Dillinama Journal. Nisha’s work also spans across writing, research, teaching and curriculum design. Her Instagram is @nishaghani, to see her work
Inbound: Cover Art
Interview with Nisha
Jasmine Harrell (she/her) graduated from Bowie State University with a degree in English. She resides in the USA, and is a Technical Writer with dreams of being a full-time Author. Her work has been published by IHRAF Publishes, the Bacopa Literary Review, SFPA’s Star Line magazine, and the Alchemy and Miracles anthology by Gilbert and Hall Press. She loves drawing, writing, and reading in her spare time, is a devout horror and science fiction fan, and enthusiast of all things sweet.
Home is Where You Roam
Sana Khan (she/her) currently in Pakistan is an amalgam of confusion, ponderings and disillusionments. She is also ever persistent about the journey of the soul. In a world that is too loud, too distracting, and heartbreakingly selfish, Sana tries to find solace in the written word. Her pieces normally revolve around the self and the journey within. She has a penchant for dutifully avoiding chores, and either finds herself with a book accompanied by tea and cake, or on the PlayStation, also, with tea and cake.
To You
Noor Kumarchadha (she/her) is a 12th grade student based in Bombay. From before she could walk she has been interested in the world of books and art, which later translated into a keen curiosity in literature and academia. She hopes to hold onto that and make it a part of all her future projects.
Eye Contact
Namrah Matloob (she/her) completed her honors in English language and literature from Iiui. Then she briefly worked as a content writer. Matloob’s blogs have been published by The Nation, The Woman Inc, and Parhlo previously. Her work is majorly based on social critique. Besides writing, she has worked at Preparatory School Islamabad and is currently working with an ed-tech organization, Dot and Line, as an English Language and Literature instructor. Born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan, Matloob currently spends time between Islamabad and a small town called Chashma.
Where’s Home
Natalie Shea (she/her) is a writer and artist in Georgia, USA. She is a graduate of SNHU with a master’s degree in creative writing and a member of the international English honors program Sigma Tau Delta. Natalie has been published by Today’s Christian Living. Her Instagram is @natalie_shea13 if you would like to keep up with her work.
The Ring
Noor Ul Ain (she/her) is an aspiring writer/poet currently studying English literature in Pakistan. Her name, meaning “the light of eyes,” symbolizes her commitment to forging her unique path and identity, diverging from conventional paths.
کنڈی
Anne-Marie O’Brien (she/her) started her writing journey in San Francisco, USA, shortly after graduating from university. She has since written many poems in America, Australia, Ireland and London inspired by her travels and worldly experiences. Her poetry contains themes of love, relationships, choice, discovery, mental health, nature and observing life as it happens all around us.
a breath of fresh air
Winifred Òdúnóku (she/her) is a writer from Nigeria who loves to explore different narrative styles in her writing. She works as an Assistant Editor for Isele Magazine and is a Nonfiction Reader at Fiery Scribe Review. Her works have been published or forthcoming in Inked Gray Press, Ilford Review, IBADANarts, African Writer Magazine, Isele Magazine, The Moveee, Revista Periferias, Kalahari Review, Nnöko Stories, Ngiga Review, and Punocracy, among others.
Nameless Fate
Sunayna Pal (she/her) was born and raised in Mumbai, India, now calls Maryland, USA home. She has made her literary mark with her debut poetry book, Refugees in Their Own Country (B&W Fountain), which explores the Partition of India. Her evocative poetry graces the pages of numerous international journals and anthologies, museums, poetry festivals, and libraries, resonating with readers across the globe. Beyond her writing, Sunayna serves as the Director of The Poetry Academy and is dedicated to the practice of Heartfulness meditation. For a deeper insight into her work and journey, please visit sunaynapal.com.
Ma doesn’t give me extra roti
Bargaining
Claire Parker (they/she) is a feral queer, farmer, forager, woods witch, herbalist, and adventurer. They grew up on unceded Kumeyaay land, near the Pacific Ocean. They mostly write about place-based longing, eco-sensual heartthrob, reverential heartbreak, and human connection to plant and water spirits. When not actively tending the nomadic hearth, they live on unceded Wabanaki land, near the Atlantic Ocean. Their poetry has appeared in the Eunoia Review and in the Portland Press Herald Deep Water poetry column. Claire has been writing poems since they were 4 years old.
Fortune
Paroma (she/her) is a writer, avid reader, and poet from India. Her work has appeared in The Alipore Post, The Punch Magazine’s Poetry Issue and Juggernaut Books platform. She can be contacted on her email address – paromawrites@gmail.com
Once Upon A Time
J.B. Polk (she/her) Polish by birth, a citizen of the world by choice. First story short-listed for the Irish Independent/Hennessy Awards, Ireland, 1996. Since she went back to writing in 2020, more than 100 of her stories, flash fiction and non-fiction, have been accepted for publication. She has recently won 1st prize in the International Human Rights Arts Movement literary contest.
Editors Pick: The Amazing Story of Dr. Megrelian’s Itinerant Circus and Human Zoo
Mahnoor Rehan (she/her) is a poet, a book lover and an avid introvert, she is known for writing letters to my friends on brown paper bags, leaving poems as footnotes on her current reads and for her gol chashme. She enjoys sitting in the loud cafes of Islamabad, Pakistan quietly sipping hot cocoa, Keats poetry and Woolf’s prose. Her poems have been published in The Missing Slate, Pandemonium Journal, and forthcoming Aleph Review.
Dreamer in Debris
Chai and Chrysanthemum
Juanita Rey (she/her) is a Dominican poet who resides in the USA. Her work has appeared in Lion and Lilac, One Art, Moria and the Lincoln Review.
My Roommate
rivvas (they/them) lives in North Carolina, USA with their cats. They have moral and ethical rejections to bios and being perceived. rivvas dabbles in different mediums depending on their mood, environment, and the people around them.
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Dua Abbas Rizvi (she/her) is a visual artist and writer from Lahore, Pakistan. She has written on art and culture for The Herald, Dawn, The Friday Times, ArtNow, and The Aleph Review and contributed essays on South Asian and Islamic art to Encounters: The Art of Interfaith Dialogue (Brepols), the Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (De Gruyter), Image Journal (for which she also serves as an editorial advisor), and Selvedge Magazine. In 2022, she was awarded a South Asia Speaks Fellowship to develop her first book of visual nonfiction. She is currently studying towards a master’s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.
Vessel XI
Mykyta Ryzhykh (he/him) Author from Ukraine, now living in Tromsø, Norway. Nominated for Pushcart Prize 2023, 2024. Published many times in literary magazines іn Ukrainian and English: Tipton Poetry Journal, Stone Poetry Journal, Neologism Poetry Journal, Shot Glass Journal, QLRS, The Crank, Chronogram, The Antonym, Monterey Poetry Review, Five Fleas Itchy Poetry and many others.
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Patricia Sophia Villalobos (she/her) is a college student from Las Vegas, USA. This is her first published work, and she hopes for many more to follow. Patricia spends all of her free time reading, writing, and reading some more. She hopes to meet her goal of reading 1000 books in her lifetime to see if Virginia Woolf was right. She posts her favorite snippets of whatever book she is reading at @greensnotyourcolor on Instagram.
Lucy
Brandi-Ann Uyemura (she/her) is a fifth-generation Japanese American writer born and raised on the island of Oahu. Her essays have been featured in The Writer, Literary Mama, Spirituality & Health, Raising Mothers and more. When she’s not at the beach with her sons, she’s writing books for kids. Her first picture book “I am a Bon Dancer” comes out in summer 2025. You can see what she’s up to on Instagram @TheInspiringBee and her website brandi-annuyemura.com/blog.
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Mahin Zia (she/her), hailing from a quaint town of Punjab, Pakistan, is an amateur writer and poet. Due to social anxiety disorder, she found writing as an escape; her burden comes out with the words and flows on the pages, “Shade of Love” is her first published book and she has participated in several anthologies.
I will too, lost
Poetry
Art
Fiction
Essay
Flash Fiction