By Thomas Sanfilip It is no secret that politics and literature have shared a long history together, often producing great literature in the process—Dostoevsky’s The Possessed, Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo, Alfred Koestler’s Darkness at Noon and others. But except for using political conflict as merely the backdrop to rather…
By: Ramlal Agarwal Salman Rushdie is a renowned novelist of our era. His writing is full of exuberance, buoyancy, irreverence, and playfulness. It elevates readers above the heavy seriousness of modernist literature and has won both the Booker Prize and…
By: Andrew Nickerson Throughout history, many great names have risen/fallen regarding military tactics/strategy, the latter mostly due to technological innovations and changing philosophies. Yet, one name has remained prominent regardless of such: Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War….
By Mishal Ahmed Abbasi When we open a novel, we usually trust the narrator without question. We follow their voice, see through their eyes, and accept their version of the world. But what happens when that trust is broken? When…
By Hugh Blanton Lauren Bolger’s second novel, The Barre Incidents, takes place in Barre, New Hampshire near a massive granite quarry and the cemetery where most of the town’s residents who’ve passed on now rest in peace. Kara Lenker’s father,…
By John RC Potter Readers of this new collection of 16 stories by Krin Van Tatenhove will discover that the title and subtitle offer clues to the fictional prose contained within, as is the case with many books. The collection…
By: Books Reviews Cafe Poetry is vital to literature because it condenses emotions and ideas into precise, powerful language that deepens our understanding of human experience. It trains readers to pay close attention to rhythm, tone, and meaning, refining both…
By Chitra Gopalakrishnan (Review: Gopal Lahiri, Selected Poems, published by Classix, an imprint of Hawakal, August 2025, New Delhi.) Gopal Lahiri, Selected Poems, published by Classix, an imprint of New Delhi-based Hawakal, August 2025, is a handpicked selection of Lahiri’s…
By: Ramlal Agarwal Rudyard Kipling famously said, “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West).” Nevertheless, they not only meet but also walk hand in hand in his…
By: Ramlal Agarwal Unlike The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me is not a controversial work. It is about the life of the novelist and her relationship with her mother, Mary. They are distinctly different…