PaperCuts Vol. 6
Written by Afia Aslam
The latest issue of PaperCuts, DWL's bi-annual online magazine, is out!
This is the first issue in which we've introduced a theme that loosely brings together all the selected poetry and prose. If the experiment is successful, we intend to continue thematic issues in the future.
Our editorial team has collaborated closely with the poets and authors whose work was voted into this issue, and we believe that wh
at we have achieved is a qualitative upgrade to material featured in previous issues. This drive towards higher standards will continue in the coming months, with more stringent requirements for selection of pieces that are to be featured in subsequent issues.
Watch this space for further developments, and be sure to give us your feedback on this issue!
But before that, here's what the Editor in Chief had to say about the lastest issue:
Dear Readers,
My sincere and profoundest apologies for bringing you this issue, a collection of short stories and poems, much later than originally anticipated. Reasons for that are given below.
I write this letter knowing that it will be the last time I address you as the Editor-in-Chief of PaperCuts, the first literary magazine of its kind showcasing the brave new work of the community it represents. But I leave the editorial duties to an excellent team; people with whom I have worked side by side fo r the past six years. Afia Aslam, the Associate Editor for Poetry & Prose will now be usurping the EiC post and will undoubtedly do a stellar job.
This issue, interestingly, and I mention this because it was entirely unplanned, deals with the concepts of life, death and rebirth and the cover art (designed by our illustrious poet cum writer cum graphics artist, Areej Siddiqui whose work has also been featured), faithfully represents that. Not all pieces follow that train of thought, of course, with poets Meredith Hans and Hanzala Behram rallying with different, but not necessarily more cheerful, themes. And on the prose end of the spectrum, Abdul Qadir and Eshal Saleem spin tales of perilous drug infusions and chilling repercussions in the bedroom, in a style now a signature of the writer's persona. The material published within Volume 6, our sixth issue of PaperCuts is both wonderfully endearing and literary aware at the same time, illustrating the clear talent of a new generation of writers eager to have their voices heard.
I end this letter with the promise of bigger and bolder things to come, for both Desi Writers Lounge and myself as we both set off in new and yet simultaneously exciting directions. The only place DWL can go from here is up and as I make my final preparations for setting off for the graduate program of my dreams (MA in Creative Writing), I do so with the knowledge that I will return. Although perhaps not necessarily to the Lounge as a full-time editor; but to continue my campaigns and ambitions for a stronger, brighter literary and artistic future for Pakistan in particular and the subcontinent at large. And with the promise that I will always be available to DWL, the place where I in so many ways, grew up, should it ever need it.
God speed to all the desi writers and their dreams!
And now?
Sincerely,
Maryam Piracha
Editor-in-Chief, PaperCuts
