Inverse Journal

Fiction

The Curfewed Mind — A Short Story by Ghulam Mohammad Khan

In The Curfewed Mind, G.M. Khan paints an intimate portrait of life lived under perpetual restriction in an unnamed place, in an undisclosed location, in a region that could practically be anywhere and about which there is no certainty whatsoever. The story that unfolds is not one about political ev

The Manual of Survival: For Those Who Stayed — A Short Story by Fendy S. Tulodo

All the way from Malang, Indonesia, Fendy S. Tulodo presents the story of a young Kashmiri boy named Q who writes and collects his rap lyrics in a manual “for surviving his streets.” The story blends reflection, details about Kashmiri culture from the perspective of a visitor, and the quiet revelati

Writings I — by Qānit

There are people to whom writing arrives as clouds arrive to England, as if by natural and climatological habit. One such writer is Qānit, who presents a series of writings that can also be read as a single piece, and that emerged from the grief and void of spirit resulting from watching the people

“Love Letter” — An Excerpt from Mehak Jamal’s Loal Kashmir: Love and Longing in a Torn Land (HarperCollins, 2025)

In “Love Letter”, the first story excerpted from Mehak Jamal’s Loal Kashmir: Love and Longing in a Torn Land [https://harpercollins.co.in/product/loal-kashmir/] (HarperCollins, 2025), an epistle becomes the instrument of salvation—from a fate expected out of fear—for a young man in love. As the intr

“That Which We Cannot Speak Of” — A Short Story from For Now, It Is Night: Stories (HarperCollins/Archipelago Books, 2023) by Hari Krishna Kaul

Inverse Journal presents the English translation of “That Which We Cannot Speak Of” from For Now, It is Night: Stories [https://archipelagobooks.org/book/for-now-it-is-night/] (HarperCollins/Archipelago Books, 2023), a collection of seventeen short stories by the late Hari Krishna Kaul (1934-2009).

03.03.2026 — An Excerpt from Arjun Razdan's Upcoming Work of Fiction Memoirs of a Young Artist, Recently Born (MOYA,RB) a.k.a. Farzdān-nâmâ

Part of a more extensive fictional work in progress, Kashmiri writer Arjun Razdan presents this excerpt that offers a vivid glimpse into the life of an artist caught between disarray and aspiration. Through intricate details—peeling ceilings, burnt coffee pots, and unpaid rents—the narrative capture

POETÈ MAUDIT — A Short Story by Muzaffar Karim

In this short story that commences at “the holy steps” of the Makhdoom Sahib shrine in Srinagar, a disgruntled character surprises the author of what he considers to be an unfinished tale. Disclaimer: any resemblance to reality is purely fictional in this short story. For more, readers are advised