gulmohur quarterly

An Online Literary Magazine from India

Submissions closed for Issue 10

gulmohur TRANSLATION COLLECTIVE

Jerry Pinto says, “all translations are ultimately a failure. But they are the noblest failures.” With this noble failure in mind, so Beckettian in spirit, we welcome you all to the gulmohur Translation Collective. We envision this as a voluntary, group-based project where we can work at the translation of texts from Indian languages. The Collective is open to all who can read or write in English and any of the Indian languages with confidence. The choice of text, the possibilities of translations, editing, and polishing the work could be decided by groups of 3-4 people based on your language interest and proficiency. You can become part of the group as a translator, editor, or reviewer. We are very grateful to our past contributors and translators and would be delighted to see them as part of this Collective. In this Collective, gulmohur will play the role of a facilitator and of a platform too. The translations will be published in the quarterly issues of the magazine. We are also in the process of working with regional publications to figure out the prospects of such a collective literary endeavour. We believe that there are literary works in many languages that have been neglected for reasons of commerce, censorship of content, and preferences of certain literary styles, or otherwise. We hope, through this collective attempt, to approach texts with a serious engagement as translators and to make them accessible in English. We had our first call for applications in April 2023. We're currently in the process of working with about 75 members in the Collective. We'll open up for participation again in October 2023.

Contents: Issue 09/ March 2023


Editorial


Short fiction


Mashi by Tapti Bose
Kaali by Paroma Bose
A Metro Station on my Maidan by Prthvir Solanki
Basanta Cabin by Sudeepta Sanyal
Everybody and I by Sambit Chakrabarti (tr. Rituparna Mukherjee)

Poetry

Two Poems by Poornima Laxmeshwar
Ma by Suchita Parikh-Mundul
Thayir by Yamini Srikanth
Two Poems by Danyal Hassan
Ghazal for Inner Child by raju tai
There is too Much World Between Us by Pavithra Sreekumar
Two Poems by Swarnika Ahuja
Two Poems by Abhinav

Essay

Conflict in the Tide Country: On Understanding Conflict in the Sundarbans through The Hungry Tide by Dipti Wadhera
Samuel Beckett for Television: Haunting through Image, Voice and Music by Arka Chattopadhyay
On Fainting by Sheena D’Lima
Campaign Against the Reductive: Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022-23 by Mehar Zariwala




Issue 01/ March 2021

Issue 02/ June 2021

Issue 03/ September 2021

Issue 04/ December 2021

Issue 05/ March 2022

Issue 06/ June 2022

Issue 07 & 08/ December 2022

'Live only, if you can, under the shade of your own gulmohur Or die, if you must, wandering in pursuit of that gulmohur' - Dushyant Kumar

About Us image



gulmohur is an urgent attempt at rescuing voices that are lost in the abundance of digital texts. We are interested in original Indian writings and translations in English. gulmohur aspires to clear some space to locate the essence of the contemporary Indian mind by capturing the ways in which millions imagine, dream, and live. We seek writers whose words inspire authenticity, literary integrity, and reflect our times.

We should be immensely proud to have writings against all forms of oppression, from the marginalized among us. We are committed to open this space up for a diversification of issues, experiences, and understandings through the dignified medium of literature.

We believe everything is political, however we do not believe everything to be art. Word is truth and no truth is indifferent to the form. Make love to sentences and give shape to your ideas, struggles, and joys. Write stories, essays and poems and send it out into the world of readers, constantly awaiting good writing. If you’re a photographer, compile your best work with a theme and we could publish it as a photo-story. 

We are launching this beautiful dream of ours, gulmohur, in the midst of a global pandemic. We hope to bring to our readers the best and the most relevant of contemporary writing. The task is herculean and the possibilities immense.


December 2020

Issue 10 releasing in June 2023 ! Submissions closed for Issue 10: May 10, 2023

Alina Gufran

Reviewer & Copy editor

Alina is a writer and editor, and is also the co-founder and host of the original podcast, Bitches Brew. She earned her MA in film-making from Prague Film School (2017) and is an alumna of the Dum Pukht Writing Workshop (2019). Alina’s current fiction and non-fiction, about female identity and its various schisms, found their form during her time living in several cities in India, the Gulf and Europe. Her short stories, essays and poetry have appeared in Livemint, Himal Southasian, The Swaddle, Out Of Print Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Helter Skelter, Jamhoor Magazine and various other publications. Her debut novel—about a queer, Muslim protagonist in contemporary India—is being represented by A Suitable Agency.

Amarkant

Editor

Amarkant is a research scholar in Philosophy at IIT Bombay. He holds a degree in Physics and has taught Theatre at a high school. He has lived in Pune, Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai. He loves Hindustani classical music and cats. He published a weekly called The Company of a Reader with subscription based circulation during the lockdown.

bhavani

Reviewer

A student of yoga and animal telepathic communication, bhavani is plant powered and Earth-inspired. Her fiction is part of the anthology A Case of Indian Marvels published by Aleph. Her short fiction "A Fragrance That Could Have Been" was the winner of the 2016 Out of Print-DNA Contest.

Deepshikha Gangwar

Reviewer & Copy editor

Deepshikha (she/they) is an amateur poet from a small town in India. Currently studying literature, her interests lie in exploring the various intersectionalities that frame our identities. They believe in the transformative power of literature to bring about the radical changes society needs. She is also mildly obsessed with manga, xianxia novels and AO3.

Jagjit Singh

Editor

Jagjit is a point-blank poet and a compulsive photographer. Trained as an engineer ("which is not education, but a conspiracy by intelligent machines to enslave humans"), he later moved to Humanities, travelled across the length and breadth of India like a missionary, flirted with activism and labour politics for a couple of years, and like a true Kashmiri scorched his hands at all the rebellions. These days he's home: day-dreaming, evening-drinking, night-writing and morning-sleeping. When asked what went wrong, he replies "everything, except literature." An aspiring Proustian, he believes words will make sense of all that's been lost and shattered.

Lakshmi Padmanabhan

Editorial Assistant

Lakshmi is an art educator and lover of all things that sustain the world. Hailing from Chennai, she finds comfort in a hot cup of filter coffee and aesthetically pleasing spaces. With a passion for memories, she believes that every object holds a special moment, person, or feeling close to her heart. When she's not teaching, she can be found painting or cooking to find solace. She has an unwavering belief in love and hope in humanity. You can usually spot her draped in a gorgeous saree with mallipoo adorning her hair. (She wrote this bio using ChatGPT!)

Rajesh Subburaj

Editor

Rajesh reads widely and has a special corner in his shelves for translations into English and Tamil. He dreams of researching the world of contemporary Tamil literature in the near future through his anthropological pursuits. His idea of good literature exists both in modern silicon beams on screens and in traditional tiny blots on cellulose. He has frequented small towns and villages where he is more comfortable discovering literary groups, writers and fellow readers who live away from the glare of urban existence. He is based out of Coimbatore.

Short fiction Poetry Essay Photo story

Our Issue 09 comes out in March 2023. We're now reading for the Issue 10/ June 2023. E-mail us your submission at gulmohurquarterly@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Submission.’ Our reading periods for this year are as follows:

For Issue 09: December 10, 2022 to February 10, 2023
For Issue 10: March 10, 2023 to May 10, 2023
For Issue 11: June 10, 2023 to August 10, 2023
For Issue 12: September 10, 2023 to November 10, 2023

Open for previously unpublished short fiction, poetry, essay and photo-story in English and in translation into English. Texts across all genres are welcome. No word limits. All submissions to be made in MS Word file (Font: Baskerville Old Face/ Size: 12/ Spacing: double). Include your brief biograph in third person. Submit a single work at a time. Poetry submissions can be a set of four poems, at most. For photo-story, a maximum of 10 photographs with a write-up. We will reply within 90 days of your submission. You may submit your work elsewhere simultaneously, but if accepted for publication, you are required to inform us immediately.

We are neither charging submissions nor paying the contributors, as of now. The magazine shall be available online for free to read and share. We also have limited print-on-demand copies available for purchase (at the minimal cost of printing, packaging, and courier). Upon being published, the authors shall retain the copyrights of their works; though we expect the courtesy acknowledgement of first publication.

Please bear full responsibility for your writing. Plagiarism is not acceptable. For any other queries, write to us in the comments section below.

The quarterly in print is quite a distinct reading experience!

  • Mumbai, Maharashtra, India