X Does Not Mark My Spot

‘Call Me Confused, Please’ requests one of the stories in this insightful and engaging collection from women of South Asian origin living in North America. ‘Made in the USA?’ wonders another.

Through poems, short stories and scholarly pieces, writers who are in their twenties, thirties and forties share what it is to live and grow up in a country that is your home and yet alien to you. They touch upon issues of culture, belonging, romance, body, race, ethnicity and the notion of ‘home’. Moving beyond the idea of ABCDs (America-Born Confused Desi) and the ‘identity crisis’, the writers grapple with the richness of their diverse inheritances to produce a more nuanced understanding of self.

“Diverse voices challenge social binaries – of race, sexuality, nationality – to showcase the many facets of brown-ness.” – Bandana Purkayastha, University of Connecticut