Asemana Magazine

Asemana Magazine
Asemana Is Listening: Send Us Your Work

An invitation to those writing from the margins and across worlds.

Do your words cross borders, break silence, or bloom in exile?

Asemana Books is more than a publisher—we are a Canada-based platform for diasporic, underrepresented, and politically engaged literature and thought.

As part of our ongoing growth, we’ve launched a Magazine—curated by editor Mahdi Ganjavi and advised by Mansour Noorbakhsh—as a dedicated space for politically engaged, diasporic, and experimental writing: poetry, short fiction, creative essays, literary event reports from Canada and beyond, translations, and critical reflections that embody our editorial values.

CLICK AND SUBSCRIBE for Asemana Magazine

CLICK HERE for ASEMANA MAGAZINE INSTAGRAM PAGE

CLICK HERE FOR ASEMANA MAGAZINE X PAGE

CLICK HERE FOR ASEMANA MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

What We’re Looking For:

We invite contributions in English, French, and languages of West Asia and North Africa (with accompanying translations into English or French) that reflect the values of:

  • Diasporic and migrant experience
  • Multilingual storytelling
  • Political resistance and historical memory
  • Decolonial thought and cultural preservation
  • Literary experimentation, hybridity, and radical voice
  • Human Rights and Freedom of Expression

We especially welcome work by racialized, immigrant, queer, and working-class writers whose voices are often marginalized in mainstream outlets.

How to Submit:

  • Send 1–3 poems, or prose between 800–2,500 words as a Word file.
  • Include a short bio (100–150 words) and 1–2 lines about the piece’s context.
  • If submitting a translation, please confirm permission from the original author or rights holder.
  • Email submissions to: [email protected]. Kindly include ‘Attention: Asemana Editor’ in the subject line of your email.
  • Submissions are open on a rolling basis and will be published in the order received.
  • We aim to respond to submissions within 3–4 weeks.
  • Our website is updated regularly—every weekor two weeks, depending on the volume of submissions and editorial capacity.
  • There is no submission fee. We believe in reducing barriers to literary expression, especially for writers from marginalized and underrepresented communities. Submissions are free and open to all, in alignment with our commitment to accessibility, equity, and inclusion.
  • Copyright remains with the author. By submitting your work, you grant us first publication rights (or translation rights, where applicable), but full copyright ownership stays with you.

We do not publish AI-generated work or previously published pieces, unless the work is AI-assisted under expert guidance, or a significantly adapted and expanded version of a previously published piece.

Let’s build a space where literature speaks back—across borders, genres, and histories.


A Story by Rifkah Mannaf

Posted on
Dusk at the Tangier SeaEvery evening, on his way home from work in the coastal city of Tangier, Morocco, Arman always saw them. A middle-aged couple, sitting silently at the…

Three Poems by Nabakumar Podder

Posted on
What Could Happen NextText within this block will maintain its original spacing when published1. The kitchen will sketch out the price of food. 2. The universe will wrap its skin…

Author’s note: Amin Haddadi on Prism of Wounded Light

Posted on
Introductory NoteIn keeping with Asemana Books’ commitment to publishing progressive, experimental, and underrepresented literature from West Asia and North Africa, we are delighted to share a new landmark publication: Prism…

A Poem by John Oughton

Posted on
ODYSSEYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedOn the walls of my Ontario public school, the Queen stared down, commanding us to do our duty, whatever that…

Three Poems by Debra J. Nordyke

Posted on
Wine MoonText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedBallymoon Castle draped in wine moon light, beams deep ruby, drip down crumbling stone walls, like legs of swirled…

A Visual Poem by Gary Barwin

Posted on
SilenceAUTHOR’S NOTE:This visual poem is a variation on the famous concrete poem “Silencio” by Eugene Gomringer but engaging with ideas of redaction and suppression of voice, reality and experience in…

A Story by Armenida Qyqja

Posted on
I Only Love Herby Armenida Qyqja****Everything was going so perfect this June morning that she almost forgot her husband’s illness. “Mental illness, Alzheimer’s.” The doctor’s words had fallen on her…

Three Poems by Sina Khani

Posted on
Iran-Are you the cradle of courage and purity,or the bearer of darkness’ many weights?What are you but the red stains of bloodscattered across the tablet of history,or the throats overflowing…

Two Poems by Isaac Dominion Aju

Posted on
Hail The British!(1902, Arochukwu)(Inspired by Min Eddie )**********************We were the evil onesAnd the British were the good peopleNdi ọma who wanted to end slaverySo they could enslave us.-We were the…

Five Poems by Mansour Noorbakhsh

Posted on
Am I really a poet?-Stones are slower than water in heat transfer.And water is too formless to make shelter.Am I solid enough to make shelter?Yet conductive like water?Conductive enough to…

Four Poems by Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews

Posted on
Google-We are a mass.Data is the new oil.-When we wear brandsEthnicity is irrelevant.-There are no borders.Countries are passé.-There is no skin. No psychic boundaries.Anyone can hack anyone anytime anywhere.-And why…
Subscribe to Asemana Magazine
Words that shape identity