Dear writers, February is upon us. February is Spring in our part of the world. Also Valentine’s Day. Most schools here have their annual examinations. So it is a strange mix of feelings, this month–work and fun, enjoying the breeze until Summer. Have you ever thought of writing about a month? Please share below, I’d love to read! Back in 2021, I wrote about February too, and published in the now-defunct SLEDGEHAMMER LIT, MAY 2021 (reproduced below):
What is with Februa and Moondust White Maruti Cars
Except Februa is spelt and salt and strips of goat skin/ Roman word/ How like decoration it hangs in my room, doting mother to February, leans over it, whispers purification, and how like an induced spectator, I mute the TV, and see it frolic on the window sill, harbinger of everything spring/ Not to be defeated, the screen sprays ever-renewing images of distant ugliness, or alien streets, or soft-growing summaries of fleeting days, until I arrive at a series I hope to binge-watch/ Only to have it interrupted by a just launched moondust-white Maruti car, ultimate insignia of Indian ingenuity and enterprise, soon gate-crash onto screen, and percolate into my plans/ I view the intrusion as a 796cc hatchback of 1983 driving into chaotic Connaught Place, Delhi, on a warm blushing morning, the smaller, lighter, neater, Japanese philosophy broadly embracing our happy family of six on a Sunday outing/ portraits of glorious affections, also hidden knives between my grandmother and her daughter-in-law, as we got off, queued up at the chaatwallah/ How I shared stories about the trip with friends on the Monday after, at school, for the better part of lunch-hour/ How they were suspicious not all of my adventures were true
Except my mind trips back to the day that apple-red shiny new car was just delivered to our home, parked in the newly-built garage, like new-bride/ Dad waiting for Mum to crack coconut by its front wheels, the auspicious occasion of Diwali, endowing a grand welcome to our first four-wheeler/ Ushering it like family/ Family it is, hasn’t betrayed us, still in the garage, relegated to the farthest spot, unmindful of dust and cobwebs, flattened tyres, yet standing and waiting to be taken for a spin someday/ Dad is sure he won’t sell it, for whatever it’s worth/ he will not be Brutus
Except, now, Disney’s Spacetime Odyssey unravels on screen, stunning CGI included, storytelling humanity’s follies and leaps/ I look on, but I’m not allowing sound yet/ Rushing-vanishing images can’t hold me tight/ I can hear Februa still, its presence in my starved house, the birds all busy, while a whining winter recedes, and the sun, mellow and humble, spreads itself on the washed-clean azure sheet high in the heavens/ When I pay attention, there’s an interruption in the Odyssey/ yet again/ It’s the moondust-white Maruti Baleno once more, after the Italian lightning or the Latino fire/ Whooshes out of the frame, just as fast
Except, Februa, I glance at you for reprieve again, you gaze back with the beckoning of lover’s arms/ wistful like fragrant breeze/ Outside, on my balcony, potted peonies and petunias colour the canvas of pale light, reminiscent of budding affections in adolescent hearts/a smile, a stare, a touch/ a spin on the car/ with the boy in spectacles/ the breeze on our faces/ the blush staying forever/ O, what of minds and memories/ except they travel so fast
Except it’s time/ unravelling, holding/ tying together/Cosmos peregrination enslaves me a while longer, but I’ve been transported to another universe and back
As you see, I used the very-Indian Maruti cars and the nostalgia around it in the piece. The other day, I was discussing this with a participant in my Fahmidan (February 01) workshop: If I write about something so Indian (but not globally famous or recognizable), will a reader in the US comprehend it? There are a few techniques to it, and if you follow them, the reader usually has no problems with it. The participant was very receptive to this method, and responded that they had noticed that it was easier if publishing within the Commonwealth countries as regards familiarity of themes etc. but the US was indeed a difficult territory unless you’re based there.
What has been your experience? I’m curious if they are same or different?
Talking as the US being a different territory, have you ever submitted to Short Fiction. They are open now, and this is part of their guidelines:
Among other interesting open and themed no-fee calls are
Little Somethings Press: Motherhood Anthology on motherhood; Deadline: 7 February; Pay: $40.
100-Foot Crow wants speculative fiction drabbles, of exactly 100 words on Coffee theme; Deadline: 15 February; Pay: $8
Griffith Review‘s theme is Into the Archive and pays.
Aftermath is the theme for The Suburban Review’s next issue and pays.
Un-themed paying calls that may have missed your radar:
Brilliant Flash Fiction Contest: upto 350 words
I am reading (as Associate Editor) for Iron Horse 2025 Chapbook Competition. Prose chapbook, between 40 and 56 pages (10,000–20,000 words) Prize: $1,000 honorarium and 15 copies. 25 free submissions on February 15, 2026
Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction: Essay, upto 5,000 words. Prize: $250 top prize. Deadline: February 28, 2026
Okay, as before, do check out this post where you’ll get links that lead to hundreds of submission opportunities.
Beyond submission calls, JAKE announced winding down. Chaotic Merge shared that Issue 10 would be their very last issue. Submit here
As some publications close, a new set of magazines are seeking your work. However, always check details before submitting. Here are a few:
The Carrier Bag is a new online literary journal of fiction and poetry that spotlights small, everyday experiences, and celebrates the mundane. Pays.
Check out Rawhead, a new online journal of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and artwork, that seeks “still dripping pieces of the beast you’ve finally slain.”
Beyond these developments, I am a tad surprised that AWP preparation posts (read flights, ticket bookings, reservations) are not all over the place as it was in the years gone by, given we are just a month away. In Australia, Adelaide Writers’ Week scheduled in January got cancelled, about which here’s a detailed post by Keemiya Creatives. The 53rd New Delhi World Book Fair (Jan 10–18, 2026), was in the news for the wrong reasons after viral videos showed chaotic scenes of attendees scrambling to “steal” books.
In personal news, Archive of the Odd published an odd, speculative course-plan-formatted piece of mine in Issue 6 (January 15), available for sale in print and e-book formats. Brilliant Flash Fiction published my one-paragraph piece in their January issue. Also, Hex Literary kindly lent space for a very short piece of mine on January 20.
As always, please know it is great to read about your achievements through social media, but do feel free to inform me personally so we can amplify through this blog.
As the year continues to tumble and roll out in unexpected ways around the world, I hope you take a moment to praise yourself for all you’ve done, for all the risks you’ve taken, choices made and the mistakes that taught you something. I hope you know that writing is a great healer. Happy writing!
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