This is the first annual print volume of Asemana Magazine to be published in October 2026. This volume brings together works published in Asemana Magazine from May 2025 to August 2026, documenting the magazine’s first period as a dedicated space for politically engaged, diasporic, and experimental writing. Published by Asemana Books, the magazine was established and edited by Mahdi Ganjavi and advised by Mansour Noorbakhsh.
The collection includes poetry, short fiction, creative and critical essays, and translations from Canada and beyond. Across different forms, languages, and experiences, these works speak to questions of migration and exile, memory and belonging, political struggle, cultural inheritance, and the possibilities of writing across worlds.
Together, they reflect Asemana’s commitment to creating a space where voices from the margins can meet, challenge boundaries, and enter into conversation with one another.Selected Works from Asemana Magazine, May 2025–August 2026
Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Translations, and Reflections from the Margins and Across Borders
Edited by
Mahdi Ganjavi
Published by ASEMANA BOOKS
Toronto, Canada
ISSN 3111-3796 (Print)
ISBN 978-1-997503-62-0
With Contributions by:
Parnia Abbasi, Valbona Ahmeti, Isaac Dominion Aju, Bahar Almasi, Ali Asadollahi, Marisa Ashiku, John Baglow, Jeevan Bhagwat, Angela Caputo, George Elliott Clarke, Patrick Connors, Sanaz Davoodzadeh Far, Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews, Hadi Ebrahimi Roudbaraki, Mahdiyeh Ezzati, Silvia Falsaperla, Yaser Farashahinejad, Farideh Fardjam, Reza Farokhfal, Behnam M. Fomeshi, Barbara Anna Gaiardoni, Mahdi Ganjavi, Ali Rahmani Ghanavizbaf, Sina Gilani (“Xina”), Saadi Golbayani, Farkhondeh Hajizadeh, Sungrye Han, Bahareh Hosseini, Bruce Hunter, I.B. Iskov, Arash Joudaki, Sina Khani, Ermira Mitre Kokomani, Saraswoti Lamichhane, Shams Langeroodi, Hiram Larew, Diana Manole, Rifkah Mannaf, Carmelo Militano, A. F. Moritz, Ornguze Nashima Nathaniel, Hamid Neasy, Mansour Noorbakhsh, Debra J. Nordyke, Honey Novick, Steve Noyes, onecloud, John Oughton, Sandro Pecchiari, Gordon Phinn, Nabakumar Podder, Armenida Qyqja, Giovanna Riccio, Yadollah Royaï, Katayoun Salmasi, Morden Shapiro, Nilofar Shidmehr, Ali Sobati, Niloufar-Lily Soltani, Antje Stehn, David Stones, Jüri Talvet, Peter Taylor, Peyman Vahabzadeh, Max Vandersteen, Elana Wolff, Amir Yazdanbod, PJ Yukon, Bänoo Zan
