New issues of Pratilipi and Almost Island

New issues of two very good Indian literary webzines, Pratilipi and Almost Island, are out now.

What I like about Pratilipi is that it is bilingual, also features translations from foreign languages into Hindi, and has a deep Indian focus, while Almost Island sometimes has its snout pointed in the other direction and often features very unusual writing from around the world in addition to work by Indian writers. Both are beasts interested not only in actual translations but also the theory of translation. They are an odd but complementary pair. I have had an essay published in Pratilipi, and am sure to have one in Almost Island too before I turn 40.

Here are some things to read from them. From Almost Island:

"The Self That Writes", the transcript of a lecture given in Delhi in March at an Almost Island literature conference by the masterly Italian writer Claudio Magris (whose book Danube is full of brilliant things); nine poems by Namdeo Dhasal; "The Night" by the Bolivian poet Jaime Saenz; "Pensées" by Sven Birkerts; "Homage To Translation: Benjamin In Japan" by Forrest Gander; and two chapters from Satantango, a novel by the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai.

and from Pratilipi:

"Mourning" by Chandra Prakash Deval; "Say Something" by Sridala Swami; three poems in English and in Hindi translation by Anjum Hasan; "Wall Paintings by Meena Women" by Madan Meena; "A Necessary Poem" by Teji Grover; "An Initiation to Sexuality in Almodovar’s Films" by Sameer Raval; and "My Mother's Lover" by Sumana Roy.