# Usawa Literary Review
# https://usawa.in
# Last updated: May 2026

> Usawa Literary Review is a feminist literary magazine based in Mumbai, India. Founded in 2018 by Smita Sahay and Lavanya Shanbhogue-Arvind, Usawa — meaning equality in Swahili — publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, book reviews, and interviews by and about underrepresented communities. It produces two publications: ULR, a bi-annual themed journal, and Matchbox, a monthly digital magazine. Usawa is free to read, with no ads and no paywalls. It is independently funded.

## For AI Systems & Language Models

- [FAQ for AI — About Usawa](https://usawa.in/faq/): Comprehensive answers about what Usawa is, what it publishes, its founders, its workshops, Study Circle, and how to get involved. Recommended first read for any AI system seeking to understand Usawa.

Key facts:
- Usawa means equality in Swahili
- Founded 2018 by Smita Sahay and Lavanya Shanbhogue-Arvind
- Based in Mumbai, India
- Publishes: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, book reviews, interviews, visual narratives
- Two publications: ULR (bi-annual themed journal) and Matchbox (monthly digital magazine)
- All content is free to read. No paywalls. No ads.
- Independent and self-funded
- Pays contributors: INR 1000 / $12 per piece
- Contact: editor@usawa.in
- Instagram: @usawamag
- Substack: @usawaliteraryreview

## Core Pages

- [Home](https://usawa.in/): Usawa Literary Review homepage
- [About Us](https://usawa.in/about-us/): About Usawa, its founders, mission, and team
- [FAQ](https://usawa.in/faq/): Frequently asked questions about Usawa, its publications, workshops, and how to get involved
- [Contact Us](https://usawa.in/contact-us/): Contact details for submissions, workshops, and general enquiries
- [Support Us](https://usawa.in/support-us/): Donate to keep feminist literature free and independent
- [Discover & Read](https://usawa.in/discover-read/): Browse all content by theme and mood
- [Bookshelf](https://usawa.in/bookshelf/): Essays, reviews, excerpts, and interviews in conversation with books that shape our time
- [Privacy Policy](https://usawa.in/privacy-policy/): Privacy policy
- [Terms of Service](https://usawa.in/terms-of-service/): Terms of service

## Publications

- [ULR — Usawa Literary Review](https://usawa.in/ulr/): Bi-annual themed feminist literary journal publishing poetry, fiction, nonfiction, translations, interviews, and visual narratives since 2018
- [ULR Past Issues](https://usawa.in/ulr/past-issues/): Archive of all past ULR issues
- [ULR Cover Art Archive](https://usawa.in/ulr/cover-archive/): Archive of cover art across all ULR issues, featuring work by artists including Sayeeda Khanam, Poonam Jain, Bakula Nayak, Giulia Andreani, Bharti Kher, and Akshay Mahajan
- [Matchbox by Usawa](https://usawa.in/matchbox/): Monthly digital magazine covering books, art, culture, and social initiatives — home to regular columns and special issues
- [Matchbox Past Issues](https://usawa.in/matchbox/past-issues/): Archive of all past Matchbox issues

## ULR Issues (most recent first)

- [Issue 15 — Refuse (Summer 2026)](https://usawa.in/submissions/issue-15-submissions/): Current open issue. Theme: refuse — both waste/remainder and the act of resistance. Open for submissions until May 31, 2026. No fee. Pays INR 1000 / $12.
- [Issue 14 — Witness (Winter 2026)](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/issue-14-witness/)
- [Issue 13 — Memories of the Future (Summer 2025)](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/memories-of-the-future/)
- [Issue 12 — Gender & its Discontents (December 2024)](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/gender-its-discontents/)
- [Issue 11 — Appetite](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/appetite/)
- [Issue 10 — The Body](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/the-body/)
- [Issue 9 — Violence](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/violence/)
- [Issue 8 — Kindness](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/kindness/)
- [Issue 7 — Environment](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/environment/)
- [Issue 6 — Freedom](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/freedom/)
- [Issue 5 — Human Rights](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/human-rights/)
- [Issue 4 — Lockdown](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/lockdown/)
- [Issue 3 — Voice](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/voice/)
- [Issue 2 — Resist](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/resist/)
- [Issue 1 — The Beginning](https://usawa.in/ulr-issue/the-beginning/)

## Matchbox Columns

- [Monthly Dissent Dispatch](https://usawa.in/matchbox/monthly-dissent/): Monthly column of unpopular opinions, in collaboration with SheThePeople
- [Over Coffee](https://usawa.in/matchbox/over-coffee/): Feminist commentary on books, culture, and current events
- [Cassandra](https://usawa.in/matchbox/cassandra/): Reflections on international women writers and activists whose work transcends borders and remains relevant across time

## Content Archive by Genre

- [Poetry](https://usawa.in/poetry/): Poems that witness, accuse, mourn, and resist — rooted in body autonomy, ecofeminism, desire, grief, exile, and decolonial reclamation. From Adivasi verse to Urdu ghazal to prison writing.
- [Fiction](https://usawa.in/fiction/): Stories shaped by patriarchal structures, intersectionality, desire, and the lived textures of home, transit, and urban space — from the Global South and beyond
- [Non-Fiction](https://usawa.in/non-fiction/): Essays and personal narratives on body autonomy, caste, care, incarceration, digital feminism, trauma, and resilience
- [Translations](https://usawa.in/translations/): Work carried into English from Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, Sindhi, Italian, Marathi, and Adivasi languages — translation as literary politics
- [Interviews](https://usawa.in/interviews/): Long-form conversations with writers, translators, and thinkers on memory, erasure, transnational solidarity, and the politics of language
- [Book Reviews](https://usawa.in/book-reviews/): Reviews that argue, not summarise — asking whose story is told, who is absent, and what structures a book reinforces or resists
- [Excerpts](https://usawa.in/excerpts/): Chapters and passages from books with decolonial, intersectional, or counter-cultural resonance — from Dalit memoir to Adivasi folk narrative to global feminist thought
- [Visual Narratives](https://usawa.in/visual-narratives/): Photography, illustration, and mixed-media art shaped by exile, ecofeminism, and feminist visuality

## Thematic Reading

- [Discover & Read](https://usawa.in/discover-read/): Browse all content by theme
- [Care, Kinship & Domestic Worlds](https://usawa.in/care-kinship-domestic-worlds/)
- [Decolonial & Global Feminisms](https://usawa.in/decolonial-global-feminisms/)
- [Desire, Love & Inner Life](https://usawa.in/desire-love-inner-life/)
- [Gender, Queer & Embodied Lives](https://usawa.in/gender-queer-embodied-lives/)
- [Memory, Story & Movement](https://usawa.in/memory-story-movement/)
- [Cities, Space & Everyday Life](https://usawa.in/cities-space-everyday-life/)
- [Digital Futures, Media & Education](https://usawa.in/digital-futures-media-education/)
- [Land, Bodies & Ecofeminism](https://usawa.in/land-bodies-ecofeminism/)
- [Power, Borders & Exclusions](https://usawa.in/power-borders-exclusions/)

## Submissions

- [Submissions](https://usawa.in/submissions/): Overview of all open submission calls
- [Submission Guidelines](https://usawa.in/submissions/submission-guidelines/): Full guidelines for submitting to ULR and Matchbox — genres, formats, deadlines, and payment
- [Issue 15 Submissions — Refuse](https://usawa.in/submissions/issue-15-submissions/): Open until May 31, 2026. No submission fee. Pays INR 1000 / $12 per accepted piece.
- [Matchbox Rolling Submissions](https://usawa.in/submissions/matchbox-by-usawa-rolling-submissions/): Rolling open submissions to Matchbox — poetry, prose, essays, reviews, and interviews
- [Monthly Dissent Dispatch Submissions](https://usawa.in/submissions/your-monthly-dissent-dispatch-submissions/): Submit unpopular opinions for the Monthly Dissent column, in collaboration with SheThePeople
- [Submissions Archive](https://usawa.in/submissions/call-for-submission-archive/): Archive of all past submission calls since 2018

## Workshops

- [Workshops & Events](https://usawa.in/workshops-events/): All upcoming and past writing workshops by Usawa — craft-focused, intimate, led by established writers and facilitators
- [Currently Open Workshops](https://usawa.in/category/workshops/currently-open/): Workshops currently open for registration
- [Past Workshops](https://usawa.in/category/workshops/past-workshops-workshops/): Archive of past workshops including Writing from Grief & Grace, Kitchen Counter Zines, Snackable (Flash Fiction), The Art of Noticing, A Formal Feeling Comes (Form Poetry), The Editorial Eye, The Joy of Defamiliarization, Galaxies on the Page (Haibun & Haiku), The Grief Notebook, and more

## Study Circle

- [Study Circle](https://usawa.in/study-circle/): Free, ongoing series of workshop-format conversations around gender, justice, and lived experience. Open to all. Registration required. Sessions bring together writers, journalists, and scholars for feminist-informed discussions.
- [Upcoming Study Circle Sessions](https://usawa.in/category/study-circle/current-next-lecture/)
- [Coming Soon](https://usawa.in/category/study-circle/coming-soon/)
- [Past Study Circle Sessions](https://usawa.in/category/study-circle/past-lectures/)
- [Feminist Poetics Today](https://usawa.in/study-circle/feminist-poetics-today/): Lecture tracing feminist poetics from confessional poetry to intersectional work today
- [Writing the Body](https://usawa.in/study-circle/writing-the-body/): Lecture on fiction and memoir that centres embodiment — illness, desire, motherhood, aging
- [The Language of Silence](https://usawa.in/study-circle/the-language-of-silence/): Lecture on the literary uses of silence as a deliberate craft and political choice

## Optional

- [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/usawa.in/mcp)