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wasafirimag.bsky.social
Wasafiri Magazine
@wasafirimag.bsky.social
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The magazine of international literature since 1984. Order Wasafiri 123 now!

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Wasafiri Magazine @wasafirimag.bsky.social · Sep 10
📣 Orders are now open for our latest issue, Wasafiri 123!

Find interviews with Andre Bagoo, Cato Pedder, and Christina Sharpe, three translated Tamil poets, a poem by Devika Rege, and more fiction, reviews, articles, and poems.

www.wasafiri.org/issues/wasaf...
Wasafiri 123
Inside Wasafiri 123, you'll find interviews with Andre Bagoo and Christina Sharpe, a lead feature poem by Devika Rege, our 2024 Essay Prize winning articles…
www.wasafiri.org
wasafirimag.bsky.social
And we loved it!
November 25, 2025 at 8:23 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Selina Nwulu unpacks the impetus behind her debut essay collection, BLACK CLIMATES – 'an exploration of climate breakdown through the lens of the Black experience' – in a new essay for Wasafiri.org.

Read now: buff.ly/vjbQ8eZ
A dark green forest with a title card reading Befriending the Forest by Selina Nwulu
November 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
It was a pleasure to work on these four beautiful magazines and collaborate with the many diverse individuals and institutions we worked with in 2025. We hope you'll pick up a copy, share with your friends, and support our work nurturing literary communities across the world.
Wasafiri 124: Presencia y Resistencia – British Latinx Writing & Art, Wasafiri 123, Wasafiri 122: The UAE Issue, and Wasafiri 121 against a blue and beige background
November 23, 2025 at 12:00 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Thanks to all who joined us for our annual Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize ceremony this year at Southbank Centre 🎊

It was a joy to celebrate our three winners Flora Beagley, Luke Liu, Jo Bardsley (Fiction), and all of our shortlistees!

The 2026 Prize will open next year — until then!
Three people stood in a row, smiling. On the left is a person with blond, curly, shoulder-length hair. They are wearing a black sleeveless top and black trousers. In the middle is a person with shoulder-length straight blond hair. They are wearing a leopard print shirt and blue trousers. To the right is a young Chinese man with parted black hair. He is wearing a grey zip up jacket over a stripy shirt. A projected screen with the heading 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize ceremony. A group of people all stood smiling at the camera. They are arranged in two rows. Three people stood in a row, shown full-length. To the left is a woman with long black hair and glasses. She wears a red and blue checked dress. In the middle is a South Asian man with short grey hair. He wears a black suit. To the right is an East Asian man with a beige jacket and jeans.
November 20, 2025 at 3:25 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
We’re thrilled to reveal the cover of our winter 2025 issue, Wasafiri 124: Presencia y Resistencia — British Latinx Writing & Art!

Guest co-edited by Leo Boix and Karina Lickorish Quinn, the issue critically explores the vibrancy and creativity of the British Latinx communities.
November 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
It's time for our annual festive sale! ❄️🎁
We've curated bundles of four magazines each based on specific themes, contributors, and regions. Each bundle is on sale for £30 only, saving you 40%!

Shop now: buff.ly/1gDBef9

Sale ends Monday, 1 December
Black and white grainy background with a pale pink gift bow in the corner and large pink text saying WASAFIRI GIFT GUIDE and a white subheading saying Magazines for every kind of creative reader
November 17, 2025 at 1:28 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Join Deepa Bhasthi – our inaugural International Translator in Residence – for her second online workshop next Saturday, 22 November. This is a unique opportunity for an intimate learning experience with an International Booker Prize-winning translator.
How to Be or Not Be a Translator: A Workshop Series by Deepa Bhasthi
Attend four curated online writing workshops tutored by our inaugural International Translator in Residence, Deepa Bhasthi.
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November 15, 2025 at 11:49 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Wasafiri is a fantastic resource for students and scholars of literature, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, and the humanities more widely.

If you're a university student or academic, speak to your library about taking out an institutional digital subscription to Wasafiri: buff.ly/d1D44g4
Pale pink background. Text in black in centre says: 'Does Your University Subscribe to Wasafiri?' Underneath are four magazine covers in a row.
November 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
It was a delight to host writer and translator @antonhur.com for a brilliant, punchy public lecture here in London on Korean literature in translation, literary prizes, race and discrimination in the publishing industry, and what success as a writer really means.

Thanks to all for coming!
A man with parted black hair stands in front of a lectern. He looks down at his screen and has his hands raised in front of him. Behind him is a green banner with magazine covers on it. A man with parted black hair stands in front of a lectern. He looks down at his laptop screen and has his hands in ok symbols in front of him. Behind him is a green banner with magazine covers on it. A man with parted black hair stands in front of a screen. He has his arms raised in a shrug. The text on the screen reads 'Prizing Korean Literature' A man with parted black hair stands in front of a lectern. He looks down at his laptop screen and has his arms crossed in front of him. Behind him is a green banner with magazine covers on it. To his right is a large display screen.
November 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Shastri Akella reads from his short story, ‘Hail the Vande Mataram!' – published in Wasafiri 123. The story imagines a childhood friendship between the nephew of a freedom fighter and the son of British colonial officer General Dyer, in the weeks leading up to the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
November 11, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Wasafiri Magazine
mailbykite.bsky.social
Thank you to Wasafiri, and to Sam Dapanas for their incisive, deeply attuned questions.

What a pleasure to chat ANNAH, INFINITE as speculative nonfiction and translation of a painting, the 1965 genocide, refusing ableist biases in art and literature, and more. #CripLit #Xl8
wasafirimag.bsky.social Wasafiri Magazine @wasafirimag.bsky.social · 15d
Alton Melvar M Dapanas speaks to @mailbykite.bsky.social on how her latest book ANNAH, INFINITE reshapes speculative nonfiction, and disputes the racial, gendered, and ableist biases of fraught literary and artistic spaces.

Read now: buff.ly/YrKYEPD
Alton Melvar M Dapanas and Khairani Barokka in front of an Indonesian landscape painting, title text, and Wasafiri logo
November 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Alton Melvar M Dapanas speaks to @mailbykite.bsky.social on how her latest book ANNAH, INFINITE reshapes speculative nonfiction, and disputes the racial, gendered, and ableist biases of fraught literary and artistic spaces.

Read now: buff.ly/YrKYEPD
Alton Melvar M Dapanas and Khairani Barokka in front of an Indonesian landscape painting, title text, and Wasafiri logo
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
It was a packed room for our Toxic Love & Borders event with Sophie Chauhan, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, lisa minerva luxx, & Vida Adamczewski ✨ The poetry afternoon was held at whitechapelgallery.bsky.social in partnership with the Centre for Contemporary Writing (QMUL) & @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social.
Four people sit facing an audience. To the left is a person holding the microphone. They have short black hair and are wearing a black denim jacket. Next along is a person with very long blonde hair. They are wearing a white long-sleeve top. Second to right is a person with short black hair and glasses. They are wearing a black vest. Furthest to the right is a person with a black afro. They are wearing glasses and a white tshirt with a graphic on the front. Four people sit facing an audience. To the left is a person holding the microphone. They have short black hair and are wearing a black denim jacket. Next along is a person with very long blonde hair. They are wearing a white long-sleeve top. Second to right is a person with short black hair and glasses. They are wearing a black vest. Furthest to the right is a person with a black afro. They are wearing glasses and a white tshirt with a graphic on the front.
November 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Congratulations to Wasafiri friends and contributors @juanapoetry.bsky.social, Don Mee Choi, Han Kang, and George Szirtes on gaining a place on the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation Longlist 2025! 🙌
Longlist 2025
The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation Longlist 2025
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November 8, 2025 at 10:30 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
If you missed our annual New Writing Prize ceremony last week, here's what our stellar judges had to say on the winners' work ...

The winning pieces will be published in print in our Spring 2026 issue, so watch this space.

Congratulations once again to Jo Bardsley, Flora Beagley, and Luke Liu!
Dark blue background. White text reads: ‘Out of a crop of truly excellent, exciting, and innovative new writing, the jury chose “Iko of Benin, King’s Diver” by Jo Bardsley for its powerfully imagined characters, its dream-like metaphors, and for taking us to a time and place we had never imagined existed before. Congratulations, Jo, and thank you for the ride.’ Anton Hur, Fiction Judge on ‘Iko of Benin, King’s Diver’ by Jo Bardsley Dark blue background. White text reads: ‘Two words sum up our winners: accomplished and assured. Our winners have all given us judges the thrill and pleasure that only good writing can give. These winning entries not only speak to the moment but will also remain relevant beyond the moment. They manage to balance the requirements of craft with political realities – be it in language, in history, or in our environment – and are both immediate and enduring.’ Romesh Gunesekera Chair Dark blue background. White text reads: ‘Flora Beagley’s poem “Sutton Hoo” performs a similar excavation to the one that pulled far-flung treasure out of the flatlands of East Anglia. Its ghostly voice reanimates a buried watery world of kinship across distance. It reminds us that English has always been made of immigrant languages, and that the further back you look into the history of these islands, what you find is not purity but strangeness and the trace of epic journeys. The final line – “swuster, swuster, bróþor, bróþor” – strikes me as the simplest, strongest, most haunting expression of our common humanity.’ Yasmine Seale, Poetry Judge on ‘Sutton Hoo’ by Flora Beagley Dark blue background. White text reads: ‘Assured, surprising, and original, this taut and understated piece looks sideways at tradition, honing in on small, sharp details which stayed with me long after reading.’ Noreen Masud, Life Writing Judge on ‘Chair Tombs on the Hill’ by Luke Liu
November 7, 2025 at 11:55 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Read an extract from @suchmayer.bsky.social's forthcoming book, BAD LANGUAGE, a blend of memoir and manifesto exploring the politics of speech, and how language has been used – and abused – collectively and in their own life.
Exclusive Extract: Bad Language by So Mayer
Read an extract from So Mayer's forthcoming book, Bad Language, a blend of memoir and manifesto exploring the politics of speech…
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November 5, 2025 at 11:00 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Nobel Prize-winning author and playwright Wole Soyinka has had his US visa revoked under the Trump administration.

Wasafiri stands in solidarity with Soyinka in support of free speech and expression for all. We are sharing his words on the power & endurance of literature from Wasafiri's 1993 issue
White background. Header in red reads: Statement of Solidarity. Text in black to the right reads: The Trump administration in the US has revoked the visa of Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian author and playwright, Wole Soyinka. A staunch critic of government repression worldwide, he is also a former Wasafiri contributor. On October 23, 2025, the US consulate in Lagos sent a notice to nullify his visa. The author, with his trademark wit, called this a ‘rather curious love letter’. As we continue to witness censorship imposed on writers worldwide at an alarming rate, we stand in utmost solidarity with Wole Soyinka, in support of the right to freedom of speech and expression for all. To the left is an image of Wole. He is a Black man with a white afro and beard. He sits with fingers interlaced in front of him. He is wearing a navy blue shirt with red stripes down the centre. White background. Large text in red in the centre reads: ‘I believe you cannot defeat Literature in the end.’ Wole Soyinka Wasafiri 18 (1993)
November 4, 2025 at 1:30 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Sarah Magnatta – Assistant Professor of Global Contemporary Art – introduces her Art essay in our latest issue, Wasafiri 123.

As part of the issue's special section on Tibet, she writes on artist Tenzing Rigdol's exhibition BIOGRAPHY OF A THOUGHT, held at the MET in 2024.
'Ideas change people's lives': Sarah Magnatta interviews artist Tenzing Rigdol
Sarah Magnatta – Assistant Professor of Global Contemporary Art at the University of Denver, Colorado – introduces her Art essay in our latest issue, Wasafiri 123. As part of the issue's special…
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November 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Franklyn Usouwa's acerbic short story is a satire set in an unnamed African country. Through a fictional character named Bobo, Usouwa critiques systems of censorship, repression, unbridled technological growth, and more.

buff.ly/puXJCe8
November 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Part of our Writing the Self, Writing Berlin series, three Berlin-based writers – @Rajeevbalasu, Vijay Khurana & @DenizUtlu – sat down for a filmed conversation with Wasafiri's @DivyaGhelani on what it means to write in Berlin today.

Watch now: buff.ly/PEpBfh6
Berlin Writers in Conversation
As part of the Writing the Self, Writing Berlin series led by our CHASE intern Divya Ghelani, three writers based in Berlin – Rajeev Balasubramanyam, Vijay Khurana, and Deniz Utlu – sat down together…
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November 1, 2025 at 5:55 PM
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We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize!

🌟 Poetry: Flora Beagley for ‘Sutton Hoo’

🌟 Fiction: @jobardsley.bsky.social for ‘Iko of Benin, King's Diver’

🌟 Life Writing: Luke Liu for ‘Chair Tombs on the Hill’

www.wasafiri.org/news-and-eve...
Meet the 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize Winners
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize in Poetry, Fiction, and Life Writing.
www.wasafiri.org
October 31, 2025 at 12:07 PM
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‘What becomes of gender and sexuality amidst the collapse of the liberal world order?’

In this essay, Dr Abeera Khan from SOAS’s Department of Gender Studies examines our current moment as one after homonationalism, where ‘the sparse and vanishing wages of inclusion lie exposed.’

buff.ly/vKAZqnk
Cream background. Headline is in orange at bottom. It reads: Liberalism as Fascism’s Prefiguration by Abeera Khan. Above is a photograph. It shows the back of a crowd as they move down a street lined with tall buildings. Some wave rainbow flags.
October 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Wasafiri Magazine
canongate.co.uk
Huge congratulations to Feryal Ali-Gauhar, AN ABUNDANCE OF WILD ROSES has won the 2025 @banffcentre.bsky.social Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival Mountain Fiction & Poetry Award!

‘The language sings, weaving a spell’ @wasafirimag.bsky.social
An Abundance of Wild Roses: 2025 Mountain Fiction & Poetry Awawrd Winner: Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival
October 27, 2025 at 9:23 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Only 1 week left to apply for an editorial placement at Wasafiri – gain invaluable experience within an internationally recognised academic and literary journal.

DEADLINE: Midnight, Sunday, 2 November

Apply here: buff.ly/2GT6zWi
October 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM
wasafirimag.bsky.social
Poetry London (@poetrylondon.bsky.social) launches its Autumn issue at the Southbank Centre this Sunday, 2 November 2025.

Featuring readings by Marjorie Lotfi, Nick Makoha, and Michael Symmons Roberts, plus the announcement of this year’s Poetry London Prize winners.

Tickets:
Poetry London: Autumn Readings | Southbank Centre
The UK's largest arts centre & the heart of London's cultural life.
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October 27, 2025 at 10:45 AM