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.

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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 Armenida Qyqja

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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…

Three Poems by Giovanna Riccio

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She BearFor Ursula Franklin (1921-2016)-Feet on terra-firma, eyes on demilitarized cloudsat twenty-eight, Ursula Franklin exitedGermany’s post-war, Nazi mindsetembarked for Canada to pursue justiceand unlock stony secrets remnant in history’smineral veins…

Three Poems by Steve Noyes

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Three poems from a series called Al-‘alaam Az-Zahiir (The World of Appearances)*******************************ش – ر – فF — R – SH.Farasha. Moth, butterfly.-Will even the farasha fear the heated calamity to…

Five Poems by Carmelo Militano

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Orange Slices**********Sunlight slants through the windowsStripped shadows of the Venetian curtainOn the gold-brown stone floorHouse silent-Contentment is a solitary roomA quiet forgotten train station not far from hereNear a vast…

Asemana Is Listening: Send Us Your Work

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Asemana Magazine’s Call for SubmissionsWhat We’re Looking For:We invite contributions in English, French and Middle Eastern languages that reflect the values of:Diasporic and migrant experienceMultilingual storytellingPolitical resistance and historical memoryDecolonial…

Two Poems by Ali Sobati

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Dream’s Epitaph(for Yadollah Royaʾi)-It comes from the dampOf a mind,Dripping still, From seasCascaded inDeserts;Where wind etchesAn arcacross theScorched spreadof sand.Yet, it is cloudAnd open:Its shadowwave-atop A-void-ant; A petalIts memory;Its bodyAn…

Three Poems by Jeevan Bhagwat

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The Dreamers-My friend, Aram is disheartenedby the political state of the world,finds no comfort in the rhetoric of leaderswho preach of peacewith the armaments of war.-One day, my people will…
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