What the literature of recent wars has broken open — and what it still cannot say The Asian Review Editorial May 2026 The old lie, Wilfred Owen warned us, is Latin. Dulce et […]
After the Bullet, the Word
Brussels to Host Inaugural European Edition of The Asian Literary Festival
Brussels becomes the first European city to host the Asian Literary Festival this October, marking a cultural milestone. The three-day celebration (3rd-5th October 2025) features over 30 events showcasing authors from Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe under the theme ‘Between Worlds—Reviving the Silk Route of Creative Expression’.
When Art Met the Streets…
In early 20th-century New York, revolutionary artists abandoned fancy subjects to capture gritty, unvarnished American life. The Ashcan School painted tenements and taverns instead of Fifth Avenue socialites, earning the nickname “apostles of ugliness.” This democratic movement proved ordinary struggles deserved the highest artistic treatment, transforming how America saw itself.
Life on the Exhale: Victoria Amelina
New York is a strategically important place on the Donbas front line, the site of a defensive fortification on Ukraine’s Mannerheim Line. There is constant fighting here, as a result of which its material form is inexorably disappearing from the face of the earth. Russian bombs have annihilated its economic potential.
Nigerian Writers to Reshape the Global Literary Landscape
Nigerian writers were not simply responding to Western literature or colonial narratives; they were creating distinctly Nigerian literary traditions that demanded recognition on their own terms. Their success demonstrated that African stories held universal appeal when presented without compromising their cultural specificity.
Marianna Kiyanovska: Poesis of Memory and Imagination
Marianna Kyanovskaya’s poetry today is one of the most important voices of struggling Ukraine. Struggling for what? After February 24, 2020, we faced the threat of a world war. We understand that the heroic sacrifice made today by Ukrainians, including poets fighting on the front lines, is done not only on behalf of the freedom of the Ukrainian people, but also in the name of the civilisation of freedom.
The Singular Flavours of Korean Literature: How the Peninsula’s Literary Tradition Enriches the Global Canon
In recent decades, Korean literature has emerged from relative obscurity to claim its rightful place on the world stage, bringing with it distinctive narrative approaches, thematic concerns, and aesthetic sensibilities that have significantly expanded the palette of global literature
The Language of Resistance: How South Asian Writers Claimed Their Space in Global English Literature
The story of how South Asian writers claimed their space in global English literature represents one of the most successful cultural appropriations in literary history. By transforming a colonial imposition into a medium for decolonial expression, these writers have not merely secured recognition but have fundamentally altered the landscape of English literature itself.
Ukraine and Asia: Missed Opportunities and Future Prospects for Cultural and Literary Exchange
Oksana Zabuzhko’s groundbreaking novel ‘Field Work in Ukrainian Sex’ addressed gender issues and national trauma, while Yuri Andrukhovych’s ‘Recreations’ explored Ukraine’s cultural positioning between Eastern and Western influences. Serhiy Zhadan’s poetry and prose captured the gritty realities of post-Soviet transition, particularly in eastern Ukraine.
Soviet Literary Suppression and Its Global Impact: A Call for Balanced Perspectives
Ukraine’s rich literary heritage suffered systematic suppression under Soviet rule. The policy of Russification meant that Ukrainian writers were often forced to write in Russian or face severe consequences. The “Executed Renaissance” of the 1920s-30s saw an entire generation of Ukrainian intellectuals and writers eliminated through Stalin’s purges.
The Therapeutic Embrace of Printed Pages: A Critical Analysis of Paper Books and Wellbeing
Perhaps most significantly, physical books offer a rare commodity in contemporary life: genuine escape from digital surveillance and commercial imperatives. Unlike e-readers that track reading habits, collect data, and interrupt with advertisements or notifications, paper books provide an untraceable, unmonitored intellectual refuge.
What is war? Three Years Since Russia Invaded Ukraine
What can be done about it? More than one thing. Every form of solidarity and help is essential. It is important to understand that military aid in Ukraine is not a separate form of support, but part of humanitarian aid, which determines the existential to be or not to be.
Opportunities and Threats in the Oceanic Future of Sri Lanka
A summarised interpretation of the country’s ocean economy and marine habitat since the end of colonialism is as follows. To date, the use of the Indian Ocean has been limited to what it was used since antiquity, namely trading and fishing. Many natural riches on the oceanfront have been neglected while the communities that should have been reaping the benefits are stuck in a vicious financial cycle.
Geopolitical implications of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Elections
Sri Lankan politics is a thing of its own making. It is the unholy combination of good, bad, evil, and ugly. Machiavelli would have re-written “The Prince” had he had even a slight glimpse of Sri Lankan politics.
Putin’s Endgame through Dugin’s eyes
True to Dugin’s words the only thing that has happened to Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union is the steady growth of its territorial size. There are plenty of examples. Starting with Georgia,
A way out of Sri Lanka’s food security crisis
What is needed now would be to formulate long-term strategies to avoid such a crisis from happening again and to establish ironclad food security for the country. There are a few thoughts towards this end.
MBZ – The Brutal Pragmatist
More than anything UAE is the beacon of hope for a world where competing interests could coexist. Let’s look at how UAE, the tiny Middle Eastern power, has hedged its bets under the leadership of MBZ.
The Walawwa in Sri Lanka: Its Origins
What is evident is that walauwas were the houses of the Kandyan chieftains and the Low Country mudaliars. In contrast, the average citizen’s home was known as a ‘pela’, ‘palpatha‘, ‘maduwa‘, ‘kutiya‘ or ‘geya‘. The home of the village chief, the native doctor, vidane arachchi, mudalali, and so on was the ‘gedara’.
What will Hezbollah do ?
By Nadeera Dickwella “If you want peace, prepare for war” There is a cold peace shrouded in a sinister ambience on the northern Israeli border with Lebanon. On both sides of the […]
ARSA – From freedom fighters to transnational Terrorists
By Nadeera Dickwella . Photo Credit Al Jazeera Economic disparities, social injustice, ethnic discrimination create perfect breeding grounds for groups with extreme ideologies to sustain , grow and expand. If the issue […]
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