Mehvash Amin
Conches.
Also, paintings, thoughts.
These are the words that come to my mind when I want to discuss The Aleph Review this new year.
And unbroken filaments. Filaments like spiders’ webs, accruing a glistening necklace of dewdrops along their tenuous lengths.
That is how I think of our website. A web reaching out, gathering this necklace of dewdrops—diamond-like—the thoughts and artwork of a growing family of writers and artists. These filaments resonate like conches, informing others.
We will start the new year with a series of thoughts we had collected this past year. Chris Cork writing about the mob lynching of a Sri Lankan, Priyantha Kumara, which is linked filament-like to the assassination of the former Punjab governor, Salman Taseer, who tried to save a woman, Aasia Bibi, who was accused of the same crime—blasphemy— that Kumara was lynched for, this very month, 11 years ago.
Then a beautiful story by Paula Robinson, who's never been to Pakistan but who weaves this country into her narratives with the deft knowledge of a frequent visitor.
After that, poems by Moeen Faruqi, accompanied by his artwork.
Finally, an interview by Ilona Yusuf of classical singer, Sara Zaman.
Our January web page will be interspersed with lists of all Aleph writers and artists as well as information and pictures of Rehman Anwer's book, The Fundamentals of Sufism, by Broken Leg Publications.