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@onaiza

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I recently had the opportunity to design the cover illustration for ‘The Big Book of Kashmiri Literature’, an anthology of Kashmiri essays, poems, songs, and stories edited by Onaiza Drabu. The book is a beautiful portal into the rich and layered world of Kashmiri literary traditions, bringing together diverse voices and expressions from across the Valley.

The cover illustration reflects this idea of a portal- a doorway into Kashmir’s many stories, memories, and cultural landscapes. It draws from the visual language and motifs inspired by the region’s architectural and artistic heritage. Swipe to see the details of the cover and some process images :)

Cover Details

How do we feel about this colour palette?

The concept!

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A thriving oral tradition and a literary heritage that takes from the East, the West, and makes all of it uniquely its own. The history of the Kashmiri language comes together in this incredible anthology curated by @onaiza
Out from Penguin this August. Pre-order now!

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For Women in Translation Month, we turn our attention to the women who have translated, documented, researched, and carried Kashmiri literature beyond the boundaries of language.
From folklore and poetry to oral histories, short stories, and memoir, their work opens new ways of encountering the many voices of Kashmir.
We celebrate women whose work has helped bring Kashmiri writing into wider conversations while keeping its linguistic and cultural roots alive. Their work can be found alongside many other voices in The Big Book of Kashmiri Literature, edited by Onaiza Drabu.
Here’s to the translators, writers, researchers, and readers who keep literature moving.

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Announcing AfterWord’s upcoming publication “Piles of Yellow Leaves”, a wonderful poetry collection by the award-winning Kashmiri poet Nighat Sahiba.

Translated deftly by Ashaq Hussain Parray, this is a collection of Kashmiri ghazals and poems ranging from the personal to the political and everything else in between. Sahiba’s poetry is brave, powerful and deeply feminist.

Keep watching this space as we bring you this exciting new collection soon!

Cover Design: Unnati Chaudhary

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✨ The Invisible String is here—our third issue, and we couldn’t be more excited to share it with you! ✨

This issue dives deep into the idea of connections, exploring themes of time travel, how technology impacts us, and folk storytelling from the subcontinent. 🏡💭

📖 Stories by:
Saadia Faruqi @saadiafaruqi , Aftab Shaikh @aftabyusufshaikh , Dr. Gaurav Sabnis , Dr. Pasha Khan @pasha_m_khan , Sana Akram @sana_e_ziist , Rahul Pulavar, J. Ramanand, Dezh Azaad @dezhazaad , Dr. Almuth Degener, Manoj Ishtwal , Ashmi Upadhayaya @amilo.piro.stories , Urmila Bilgi @urmila.bilgi , Dr. Reema Raina, Onaiza Drabu @onaiza , Emily Cherkin @thescreentimeconsultant , Ayza Mazhar Ud Deen, Faragh Roghvi, and our incredible student reporter team!

🎨 Artwork by:
@notesonbrush , @shubhshree_mathur , @shreya_jpg , @iranagar.atelier , @illustrat_onkar , @aishwaryadeopujari , @ar.biese , @prashant.h59 , @upasnakakroo

🌟 Become a member today and join the journey: Peerbagh.com/bookstore

#southasian #childrensbooks #illustrations #thirdissue #childrensbookillustration #bookstagram #storytelling #technology #connection #bentomagazine

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Our April issue is here! With Alina Tiphagne’s (@altiphagne) photo-essay-without-photos, a moving meditation on imagery and queer experience in South India, guest-edited by Meena Kandasamy (@k.a.n.d.a.s.a.m.y); Nina Martinez’s essay about sorting dead bodies into image folders during Duterte’s drug war; Soraya Palmer’s (@soraya.palmer) searing account of the medical violence still inflicted on Black women’s bodies; Yasmin Adele Majeed’s (@yasminadelemajeed) story of fraught glances and family scrutiny on the Cape; Maria Kuznetsova’s (@mashawritesstuff) story following a struggling Ukrainian-American writer in the aftermath of an ectopic pregnancy; a Global Spotlight of Onaiza Drabu’s (@onaiza) Kashmiri folktale about a child and his caretaker finding their way out of the forest by telling stories; and finally, three poems from the heart of evangelical Queens by Brazilian-born poet Esther Lin (@estherwslin) and three from the plains of Wyoming to the streets of Accra by the Ghanaian-American writer Afua Ansong (@theprof_afua)

You can read these pieces—and more—at the link in our bio!

Our April cover also features a striking piece by Ukrainian painter Ivan Marchuk (b. 1936)—courtesy of the artist—that echoes the vivid color and emotion running through the issue. Known for his Voice of My Soul series, painted under the eye of Soviet surveillance, Marchuk is a nonconformist visionary who has been honored with Ukraine’s highest awards and named one of the world’s Top 100 Living Geniuses by The Daily Telegraph.

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January 2025 is a wrap! Here are all the wonderful books that we have been reading! What should we add to our February list?

What are you reading?

If you're interested in Bento - peerbagh.com/bookstore

#bookrecommendations #bookstagram #southasian

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“This forest opens its passages to those who tell stories”

For our first Guernica reading on the feed, Onaiza Drabu brings a Kashmiri folktale to life.

Stay for a brief passage while Onaiza carries us into a world of Kashmiri folktales.

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• 'The Legend of Himal and Nagrai' is a collection of Kashmiri folk tales divided under four sections, namely: Tales from Pataal, Tales from the Janawar, Tales from Zameen, and Tales from Bol Chal. It's retold in a manner that you can easily get the cinematic feeling of your grandparents narrating these to you on a summer vacation evening; or of a family outing in the Himalayas, where everyone is sitting around a bonfire discussing generational rituals and how they came into existence.

The book is filled with fantasy, and beliefs that Kashmiri people have grown up with since ages. I came to know a lot of things about the heaven on land and how its culture has shaped it, including its geography. I admire that the author has mentioned, along with meanings, some Kashmiri words and/or phrases before each section; and I applaud her for sticking to them exactly as they are, without using English translation for them through the stories - which gives them an authentic fervour.

The book also has a Dictionary of Kashmiri Imponderabilia, which I request all readers to please read, and not skip, as it'll add to your admiration of the culture.

I loved the introduction written to the book by the author. It shows how much effort is put in to retell the tales. And, I agree that in these times, the stories need to be carried further, more than ever. Also, in Tales from Bol Chal, there's a story, 'Kokras Kuni Zang', which I knew, as I remember my father telling me the same when I was a child. And it was like reliving the moments when I first heard it. Coming across the story again made me realize that storytellers do dwell as metaphorical gypsies, taking the flavors of the world one minuscule a time with them, and they contribute to the tastes of spices and sweets of all the lands they touch.

The stories are crisp, and narration is free flowing. You read them with the curiosity of a child when they are at an age where they don't know how the world is supposed to function. Every story leaves with some pointers inadvertently. It kind of reminded me of a Hindi book series, Gyaan Sarovar, we used to have in school.

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Do we have the best gift for Koshur kids? We think so. ❤️

DM or comment for links.

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In these 22 essays, translators around the world face the hard questions head-on, including who can—and should—translate, and how we might disentangle literary translation from colonial violence.

Originally published by our UK friends @tiltedaxisbooks, this searing manifesto is coming out in the US as a HarperVia paperback next month. Edited by Jeremy Tiang and Kavita Bhanot, with a foreword by Bruna Dantas Lobato.

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It is VIOLENT PHENOMENA day❣️

The title of this searing collection comes from a Frantz Fanon quote as translated by Constance Farrington: “Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon.” These essays, edited by @jeremy_tiang and Kavita Bhanot and on sale today, explore the idea of decolonizing translation—including interrogating not just who translates and what is being translated but also how, why, and for whom the translation is taking place.

Jeremy will be in conversation with our own editor Alexa Frank at @yuandmebooks on Thursday, and @elliottbaybookco is hosting an event next month for the book for anyone in Seattle, moderated by the book’s editor, Gabriella Page-Fort.

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