On the Brink of Belief: Queer Writing from South Asia

By Kazim Ali

Djinns linger in homes, an Assamese grandmother says. Peculiar cousins haunt Kashmiri family trees. Redemption for Shaitan is found on a bathroom floor in Lahore. In Dhaka, questions hang heavy in a police cell. Farewell emails offer closure to a relationship set against the backdrop of the decriminalization bill in Sri Lanka. And in a quiet kitchen somewhere in Nepal, memories still glow like flames. In this collection, twenty-four LGBTQIA+ writers from South Asia and beyond, conjure worlds where the borders between myth and memory, flesh and spirit, fact and belief dissolve.

This collection is a first-of-its-kind portal into the charged space where queerness meets faith. Building on the cultural histories of South Asia, these stories are brought to you as flash fiction, memoir, poetry, fragments and conversations, gathering voices that are at once intimate, fiercely authentic and defiant. Together, they rewrite what it means to belong and believe, offering readers not answers but revelations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143475002
• ISBN13: 9780143475002
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: India Penguin
• Length: 264 Pages