gulmohur quarterly

An Online Literary Magazine

Submissions open for Issue 14

Contents: Issue 13/ March 2024


Editorial

Short fiction


New Wife by Premchand (tr. Meenakshi Jauhari)
Thayamma by Bharath Kumar

Poetry

Three Poems by Shahzeb Athar
Nightly Downpour by Sugathakumari (tr. Mereena Eappen)
Four Poems by Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena (tr. Shubham Mamgain)
Three Poems by Kamran Bashir
Two Poems by Marva M.
Ivy by Addhaya Anil
Our Cities by Tasneem Khan
howls by Siva Wright
Two Poems by Areeb Ahmad
If I’d Given Birth by Juilee
After You by Abhinav
Her by Arisia

Essay

Liminal Subversions: Karan Madhok’s Poetics of Decay by Paromita Patranobish
Death, Life, Breath, Stench: Poems of Tamal Sekhar Dey by Tathagata Biswas
Two Voices of Dissent from Gujarati Dalit Poetry by Heer Nimavat
Artist’s Statement: On the Cover Art by Aradhana Rani

Photo story

Amma: Against All Odds by Rhea Saini

'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

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.

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 13 releasing in March 2024 ! Submissions open for Issue 14: March 10, 2024 onwards

Amarkant

Editor

Amarkant is a research scholar in Philosophy at IIT Bombay. He follows Ambedkarism. He holds a degree in Physics and has taught Theatre at high school. He loves Hindustani classical music and cats. He is in awe of Dostoevsky and is currently struggling with Heidegger.

Ambrish

Reviewer & Coordinator of the Translation Collective

Ambrish considers himself the epitome of an uncertain personality. He believes that certainty brings a stagnation of mind and spirit, leading to a dullness of which he has almost developed a phobia. He is currently struggling to pay bills along with working on his dream of making films. He often daydreams not of winning awards or giving grand interviews, but of succeeding in creating a work of art in the future, the thrill of which already makes his heart beat, as if the work already exists and he only has to encounter it. He dislikes romanticism but knows that he hasn't come across anyone as hopelessly romantic as himself.

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!)

Short fiction Poetry Essay Photo story

Our Issue 13 comes out in March 2023. We're now reading for the Issue 14/ June 2024. 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 13: December 10, 2023 to February 10, 2024
For Issue 14: March 10, 2024 to May 10, 2024
For Issue 15: June 10, 2024 to August 10, 2024
For Issue 16: September 10, 2024 to November 10, 2024

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 Contact section below.

The quarterly in print is quite a distinct reading experience!

  • Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

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

Issue 09/ March 2023

Issue 10/ June 2023

Issue 11/ September 2023