In Search of Silence & a Life Worth Living: Etel Adnan’s Shifting the Silence

‘Shifting the Silence’ is raw and elusive, like the very reflection you’re reading here, but it will urge you to confront the incomprehensible. Continue reading In Search of Silence & a Life Worth Living: Etel Adnan’s Shifting the Silence

Finding Beauty ‘In Our Times of Greatest Love and Greatest Fear’: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Lefteri approaches her characters’ vulnerability in such a gentle, graceful way that the novel feels heart-warming and hopeful despite the horrifying reality millions of people worldwide face today. Continue reading Finding Beauty ‘In Our Times of Greatest Love and Greatest Fear’: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

A Man without a Country: In Quest of a Homeland by Yousof Mamoor

The value of In Quest of a Homeland for me lies in its honesty and contribution to, in historian Juliet Gardiner’s terms (1988), history as an ongoing dialogue between the present and the past. Continue reading A Man without a Country: In Quest of a Homeland by Yousof Mamoor

Civilizational Collapse, Taylor Swift(s) of the World, and the Beauty of Connection

As I continued to read the emails Alice and Eileen exchange throughout the novel, I realized: as citizens of the world, we had more in common than I initially thought. Continue reading Civilizational Collapse, Taylor Swift(s) of the World, and the Beauty of Connection

Ece Temelkuran’s Together: Heart-Shaped Stones, Whitman & Us

Together is, indeed, a crucial text that is brutally, lovingly, and magically real. It is the ultimate celebration of our kind and what we can achieve to not only survive but to survive beautifully. Continue reading Ece Temelkuran’s Together: Heart-Shaped Stones, Whitman & Us

On Perfectionism and Creativity: Does Academic Writing Kill Creativity?

In the past month, I’ve found myself reminiscing about those days when the act of writing didn’t involve any other pressures (than the one applied to my finger). I’d say: when the act of writing was as simple and organic as riding a bike, but well, I never learnt how to ride a bike. Continue reading On Perfectionism and Creativity: Does Academic Writing Kill Creativity?