kuzhali manickavel/குழலி மாணிக்கவேல்

also no english

what does 'desi' actually mean? it makes me think of some amorphous country where no one wears pants on principle.

how to wear an indian village Park the car next to a vendor selling tender coconuts. Ask how the crop has been while you weigh each coconut in your hand. Do not smile when you hear the water splashing inside like a secret waterfall. Wear sunglasses. When they ask where you’re from, say you are from Chennai. Say it with a drawl, like it is an American word. Do not say you are from Madras. If you are a man, have two tender coconuts even though they will make you feel thirsty once you get back in the car. If you are a woman, drink half a coconut and give the rest to the man. Waylay children with bicycles. Grab the handlebars and insist you will only take the cycle down the road and back. Ride with one village child attached to your back and one seated on the handlebars. Make sure someone takes pictures of you. Show your teeth when you smile. Promise the children that you will send copies of every photograph that was taken. Write their addresses down in English. Make them promise to wait for your letter everyday. Make them say “Yes, we promise” in unison. Do not stay more than twenty-two minutes. As the car pulls away, wave once and quickly roll up the window. Two weeks later, you will find abandoned slips of addresses under the car mats. Stuff these into an old cigarette carton and toss it into one of the rabbit-shaped garbage cans in the nearest park. Keep the pictures.

a basic guide to instigating violence among gentoo penguins in the tropicool icy-land urban indian slum

put your hand in the hand of the man with his hand in the hand of the man with his hand in the windmills of your mind

Things We Found During the Autopsy - short fiction by Kuzhali Manickavel - front cover by Prabha Mallya

Kuzhali Manickavel's second collection has gone for reprint.

Read one of her flash pieces. Let yourself be metagrobolised by her titles.

Watch the book trailer (featuring record scratching / razor blades / superdance).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjaj...

Order a copy!

www.blaft.com/products/thi...

Thank you to everyone who's donated & shared so far for your generosity. But Archita is at 70% to her goal & donations have slowed. Please help her get some security in this terrible time if you can.

enjoyed watching The Ugly Stepsister with some illustrious acquaintances, great film for shouting 'eeeeeewwwww' en masse every few seconds

gosh

Thank you to everyone who's shared & donated so far for your generosity. But Archita's stuck at 69% to her goal and has had only 1 donation since I last shared 2 days ago. Please keep sharing & donating so she can get some security in this terrible time.

because it's not a book launch unless someone gets stitches.

BANDIGOAT: A Collection of Strange & Horrible Stories as well as our zine "ARTHASHATRA Book XIII Chapter I -- Sowing the Seeds of Dissension" (narrated by public domain clip art of worms and dinosaurs) is part of this very cool limited edition book box

discoverthe.garden/products/oct...

come hang out with us, and you will remain evergreen in the pastures of our memories

RAKESFALL wins the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction RAKESFALL wins the Le Guin Prize!

I am delighted and honoured to say that my second novel RAKESFALL has won the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction! vajra.me/2025/10/21/r...

Donate to Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives, organized by tehseen baweja Hey Everyone! My name is Tehseen and I publish an online magazine called T… tehseen baweja needs your support for Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives

Fellow Calcuttan writer/editor Archita Mittra is in desperate need of financial help. She recently lost her father, her home was damaged in the recent rains, & her mother's in hospital. They don't have insurance, & she's a freelancer. I can vouch for her. Please share widely & donate:

that one time when someone said they thought my writing was unapologetic and i immediately said i was sorry

friends i found a story i wrote when i was about 6 i think? it is a roller coaster of emotion, starting with a cat and a cow, then suddenly there is fire and people screaming. it finally seems to segue into an ad for new children's books.

to those writers who don't have access to books, workshops, mentors, degrees and whatever else, my humble suggestion is to just write. you will learn and get better. it's not the easy way and you'll make all those extra mistakes self-taught people make. but it's possible and you can do it.

unsolicited writing advice- writing is a privilege. it's cool to talk about inspiration and whatever but the truth is that we write because we can. many, many people do not have the same agency to tell their stories. don't be a dick about it.

Get more from Post Prandial Riot on Patreon A brand new zine in your mail every month.

now that we have successfully funded the bandigoat, please consider subscribing to the Post Prandial Riot. four months. four bonkers zines. the first one is already out and features sexy owls. you know you have to. you HAVE to.

www.patreon.com/c/PostPrandi...

wat about hindews

Bandigoat: A Collection of Strange & Horrible Tales Seven Indian authors. Seven stories of the eerie, the gruesome, the demonic, and the melty.

aaaand we did it! thank you to everyone who supported us, you are all such amazing people, thanks for helping this weird little book come into the world

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bla...

Bandigoat: A Collection of Strange & Horrible Tales Seven Indian authors. Seven stories of the eerie, the gruesome, the demonic, and the melty.

an ancient dark temple of deadly blood sacrifice! cobras! hindoos! elephants! more cobras! the great goddess kali! one another cobra!

i don't think any of these things appear in this volume of weird/horror fiction from india so please support us!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bla...

Bandigoat: A Collection of Strange & Horrible Tales Seven Indian authors. Seven stories of the eerie, the gruesome, the demonic, and the melty.

give us like 200 dollars. or 150 pounds. or 17 thousand rupees. don't give us bitcoin, we're still not completely sure what that is.

also just to be clear; there is nothing more fashionable than supporting third world indie weird/horror fiction. nothing.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bla...

Langs Garden Road Egmore Sep 19 3 pm... Stop the War on Gaza

Coalition of Periyarists March

Just heard about this: not sure we can make it cuz we'll be setting up at Kannadi Cupboard for the zine fair this weekend. But show up if you can Chennai!

Bandigoat: A Collection of Strange & Horrible Tales Seven Indian authors. Seven stories of the eerie, the gruesome, the demonic, and the melty.

does anyone have like three hundred bucks?

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bla...

since it is SH's birthday, i'm going to make this post about myself. i have written columns for a number of publications, who usually ended up dropping me for one reason or another. SH is the only one that continues to publish my column. thank you for giving my words a place to stay. happy birthday💜

Happy 25th Birthday to Strange Horizons

Strange Horizons published our first issue 25 years ago this month! 🎉

Thank you to everyone who has ever read, shared, submitted, donated! We wouldn't be here without you and we hope you'll continue to support us into the future!

We've crossed 70%!

Pledge now for a very-limited-edition hardcover copy! Or a T-shirt! Or a manuscript critique by Kuzhali Manickavel! Or a madcap reel by Jugal Mody!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bla...

Bandigoat: A Collection of Strange & Horrible Tales Seven Indian authors. Seven stories of the eerie, the gruesome, the demonic, and the melty.

please support our odd little book project or a bandigoat will sit on you.

unless you're into that, in which case please support our odd little book project AND a bandigoat will sit on you.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bla...

have a nagging feeling that some story titles use the lucy temerlin school etc etc and some use the lucy temerlin institute

because why not

i'm sure there is