Usawa in Swahili means equality. The Usawa Literary Review is a bi-annual English language literary magazine dedicated to feminist literature and writings by and about underrepresented communities. We publish poetry, fiction, nonfiction, reviews and interviews that question hierarchies, hegemonies and naturalized biases.
There are many feminisms – we live and learn. In the face of discrimination and violence based on gender, sexuality, colour, caste, religion, class… we believe in the persuasive humility of artistic expression, and carry writing that responds to the inherent violence of inequality. Have you produced or come across writing that provokes uncomfortable questions and gets us to re-examine our silences? Please share it with us and allow us to share it with our readers.
Based out of Mumbai, India, Usawa is a part of an ongoing global movement toward a more equitable world.
Usawa was founded by Lavanya-Shanbhogue Arvind and Smita Sahay in 2018.
SMITA SAHAY served as Associate Editor for ‘Veils, Halos & Shackles: International Poetry on the Oppression and Empowerment of Women’. Her works have appeared in national and international journals, newspapers and anthologies. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Usawa Literary Review, and the Poetry Editor for SPEAK, the Magazine. A visiting faculty of Creative Writing at Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, she is an ISB alumna, class of 2015.
A survivor of C-PTSD, she is also the founder and Somatic therapist at Calm Space Healing, a trauma-informed therapy and healing practice.
SANDHYA CHRISTINE THEODORE is an enthusiast of the written word and an aspiring publishing professional. As a student of Literature, Psychology, and Journalism she is excited by the interplay between the human psyche and artistic expression. She enjoys learning about new cultures and perspectives through literature, music, and traveling.
BABITHA MARINA JUSTIN is an academic, poet and artist. Her poems, short stories and articles have appeared in Taylor and Francis journals, Marshal Cavendish, The Yearbook (2020, 21, 22), Singing in the Dark (Penguin), Eclectica, Esthetic Apostle, Jaggery, Fulcrum, The Scriblerus, Trampset, Constellations, Indian Literature, etc. Her books are Of Fireflies, Guns and the Hills (Poetry, 2015), I Cook My Own Feast (Poetry, 2019), salt, pepper and silverlinings: celebrating our grandmothers (an anthology on grandmothers, 2019), From Canons to Trauma (Essays, 2017), Forty Five Shades of Brown ( Poetrywala, 2023)
ANKUSH BANERJEE’s (he/him) debut volume of poetry, An Essence of Eternity, was published by Sahitya Akademi in 2016. He is the three time recipient of the USI Gold Medal for his essays on Military Ethics and Leadership. His poem, ‘Righteous among the Nations’ was the winner of 2019 All India Poetry Prize. His poems appear in Indian Literature, Collateral, Eclectica, Jaggery Lit, and TBLM among others, and have been anthologised in the Best Asian Poetry 2021, Yearbook of Indian Poetry 2020 & 2021, and Converse: Contemporary Poetry in English by Indians (2022). Some of his review-essays can be found at Tupelo Quarterly, Eclectica, Kitaab, and Usawa
SONAKSHI SRIVASTAVA is a writing tutor at Ashoka University, Sonepat, India.
She is one of the recipients of South Asia Speaks mentorship programme (cohort 2021), working on translating the Hindi novel, “Titli” into English under the mentorship of Arunava Sinha. She was the contributing translator columnist at “The Bilingual Window’. She was longlisted for The Stinging Fly Translation Bursary 2022, and was awarded the Katharine Bakeless Nason scholarship for the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference 2023. Her works have previously appeared in or are appearing in ASAP art, Usawa, Proseterity, The Monograph, Alipore Post, Hakara, potluck zine, orangepeel mag, Qissa mag, and Rhodora among others.
PRIYANKA SACHETI is a writer, poet, and photographer based in Bangalore, India. She’s published widely about art, gender, culture, and the environment in international digital and print publications over the years. Her literary work and art have appeared in many literary journals such as Barren, Dust Mag Poetry, Common, Parentheses Art, Popshot, The Lunchticket, and The Sunlight Press as well as various past and forthcoming anthologies like Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English 2022. She’s currently working on a poetry and short story collection. She can be found as @atlasofallthatisee on Instagram and @priyankasacheti on Twitter.
KABIR DEB is an author/ poet based in Karimganj, Assam. He works in Punjab National Bank and has completed his Masters in Life Sciences from Assam University and is presently pursuing his MCW from Oxford University, London. He is the recipient of Social Journalism Award, 2017; Reuel International Award for Best Upcoming poet, 2019; and Nissim International Award, 2021 for Excellence in Literature for his book ‘Irrfan: His Life, Philosophy And Shades’. He runs a mental health library named ‘The Pandora’s box to a Society called Happiness’ in Barak Valley. He reviews books, many of which have been published in magazines like Outlook, Usawa Literary Review, The Financial Express, Cafe Dissensus, Sahitya Akademi etc
CHANDRAMOHAN S is an Indian English Dalit poet based in Trivandrum, Kerala. His poems were shortlisted for Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize 2016. His second collection of poems titled “Letters to Namdeo Dhasal” was a runner up at M.HARISH GOVIND memorial prize instituted by POETRY CHAIN. He was instrumental in organizing literary meets of English poets of Kerala for the Ayyappa Panicker Foundation in addition to being a fellow at the international writing program(IWP) at the university of Iowa.
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