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.


Three Poems by Giovanna Riccio

Posted on
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

Posted on
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

Posted on
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

Posted on
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

Posted on
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

Posted on
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…

A Poem by PJ Yukon

Posted on
Author’s Note: I take no political position. This was hard to write but I felt I had to write it. I object to the killing of innocent souls. There is…

Three Poems by Nilofar Shidmehr

Posted on
My Snowwoman-Snow falls all day,ceaselessly. I stay inside,scrolling the news, fearcoiling through me.Out there, my snowwomanmelts with each moment.-A chill grips me as I readof unrest—not here,in this quiet whiteness,but…

An Article and Two Poems by Gordon Phinn

Posted on
From My Bubble To Yours-mind control made easy-It has become the custom these past few decades to express the notion, in conversation or careful prose, that we are as a…

Three Poems by Antje Stehn

Posted on
Chainsaw massacre-On the blinding stageamid applause and bowsthey hand him the chainsaw,red, gleaming—he grips itlike a ravenous beast.-Steel teeth tear downforests of law,trunks of rightssplinter and fall,institutions turn into sawdust.-The…

Four Poems by Hadi Ebrahimi Roudbaraki

Posted on
Note on TranslationsOf the four poems originally written in Persian, Line has been translated into English by Vahiz Paeez. The remaining three poems have been translated by the author himself.-The…
Subscribe to Asemana Magazine
Words that shape identity