You and I, self and the other—it is the oldest, simplest difference we know. At a time of flooding across the world, from India to the US, the writers of our Fall 2024 issue call attention to physical and social separation, to the rushing waters that pull us apart, rendering us #Outsiders to one another. In exploration of this theme, we proudly bring you new work from 32 countries, including drama from Norwegian Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse, an interview with exiled Russian author Mikhail Shishkin, a review of French icon Simone de Beauvoir’s latest English publication, nonfiction by Omani writer Hamoud Saud, a spotlight on Brazilian artist André Griffo, and, for our final Brave New World Literature entry, a moving essay by the recently announced US National Book Award nominee the Kuwaiti author Bothayna Al-Essa. One year on from October 7th, Al-Essa confronts the limits of literary activism as she reflects on her video calls with a Gazan colleague: “Did I expect a person besieged in an open prison since 2006 to rejoice at the sight of a shelf of books?” In another highlight, German-Ukrainian writer Natascha Wodin’s narrator resuscitates her drowned mother, trying to fathom her across the gulf of time even as she pictures the Regnitz river washing her away. Meanwhile, Swiss poet Prisca Agustoni and Moroccan author Khalid Lyamlahy confront another kind of drowning—that of modern day migrants in search of a better life—in particular, the 269 lives lost to the sea around Lampedusa in a shipwreck, the news of which lights up Agustoni’s phone, and the death of a Gambian Lyamlahy never got to know: “I dream of a book that would contain all the words refused you, all the silences imposed on you. A book where the word ‘help’ is constantly repeated, in which the author would fade from each line, each fragment, to give you back the space denied you in life.” 

Lyamlahy’s feat of empathetic imagination leads off this edition’s wildcard Special Feature, first announced on August 15th. By the time submissions closed one month later, anti-migrant rhetoric in the US had hit a new low with Trump repeating baseless claims of Haitians “eating cats and dogs” in his presidential debate. So, although we received more than one hundred manuscripts spotlighting every stripe of outsider, I decided to carve out space for the racial/national “other” so often denigrated in politics. From Cuban author Odette Casamayor-Cisnero drawing courage from her great-great-grandmother and taking a fiery stand against racism (“I’m done with running away”) to Croatian writer Nebojša Lujanović’s nuanced portrayal of a migrant who cannot bring himself to enunciate his full name for fear of outing himself to other members of his newly chosen community, the myriad voices showcased in this Feature are resounding proof of the struggle and humanity of those we as a society are so eager to condemn to the margins. All of this is illustrated by Spain-based guest artist Anastassia Tretiakova’s haunting photography.

Wrapping up another full year of literary activism from the margins, I’m thrilled to share that plans for 2025 are already well under way. First, in lieu of Brave New World Literature, our recurring Special Feature will henceforth publish outsider-themed submissions. Our first wildcard Special Feature of 2025, on the other hand, is organized in memory of postmodernist author Robert Coover (also a former mentor), and will be dedicated to new forms—texts that push the envelope of what literature can be; as with the first Special Feature, we invite manuscripts either written originally in English or translated into English. The deadline to submit work to this wildcard Feature is December 1st, whereas, per our guidelines, submissions to all regular categories are accepted throughout the year. To stay abreast of future calls for submissions, subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on Facebook, X, Threads, our two Instagram feeds, and in our daily blog. If you are looking to get involved behind the scenes, apply to our final recruitment drive of the year (deadline: October 28th)—we’re especially on the lookout for editors-at-large, assistant editors, copy editors, and social media managers. Racking your brain for the perfect gift this holiday season? Consider sending your loved one the gift that never stops giving: an Asymptote Book Club subscription—in fact, we’ll even include a personalized note for your recipient if you would like one with the first book! Finally, as a magazine that does not receive ongoing institutional support because of said outsider status even with respect to the country in which the magazine is incorporated—as elaborated in my Fall 2022 issue’s Editor’s Note—Asymptote counts on readers to sustain its mission more than most. If you think this “global literary miracle” (according to Dubravka Ugrešić) deserves to continue, please take a few minutes to sign up as a sustaining or masthead member, whether today or on #GivingTuesday (which falls this year on December 3rd). We can’t wait to see what 2025 brings!

—Lee Yew Leong, Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Team for Issue October 2024

Editor-in-Chief: Lee Yew Leong (Thailand/Singapore)

Assistant Managing Editors: Ella Dailey (France/USA), Hilary Ilkay (Canada), Daljinder Johal (UK), Janet Phillips (UK/Australia), Kathryn Raver (France/USA), and Alex Tan (USA/Singapore)

Section Editors:
Lee Yew Leong (Thailand/Singapore)
Caridad Svich (USA/UK)
Ian Ross Singleton (USA)
Heather Green (USA)
Danielle Pieratti (USA)
Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg (Denmark/USA)

Senior Assistant Editors: Chiara Gilberti (Germany/Italy) and Michelle Chan Schmidt (Ireland)

Assistant Editors: Marguerite Alley (USA), Sam Bowden (USA), Terézia Klasová (Czech Republic), Sophie Grace Lellman (USA), Willem Marx (Italy/USA), Catherine Xin Xin Yu (Canada/Italy), Tiffany Troy (USA), Vuslat Demirkoparan (USA), Junyi Zhou (USA), and Lin Chia-Wei (Taiwan) 

Assistant Interview Editors: Sebastián Sánchez-Schilling and Sarah Gear

Contributing Editors: Ellen Elias-Bursac (USA), Aamer Hussein (UK), Sim Yee Chiang (Singapore), Dylan Suher (USA), and Adrian West (USA)

Art Director: Lee Yew Leong (Thailand/Singapore)

Editor-at-large, Bulgaria: Andriana Hamas
Editor-at-large, Croatia: Kristina Gadze
Editor-at-large, Greece: Christina Chatzitheodorou
Editors-at-large, Guatemala: José García Escobar, Rubén Lopéz, and Miranda Mazariegos
Editor-at-large, Hong Kong: Charlie Ng Chak-Kwan
Editor-at-large, Kenya: Wambua Muindi
Editor-at-large, North Macedonia: Sofija Popovska
Editors-at-large, Mexico: René Esaú Sánchez and Alan Mendoza Sosa
Editor-at-large, Palestine: Carol Khoury
Editor-at-large, Philippines: Alton Melvar M. Dapanas
Editor-at-large, Romania and Moldova: MARGENTO
Editor-at-Large, Spain: Marina García Pardavilla
Editor-at-large, Uzbekistan: Filip Noubel
Editor-at-large, Vietnamese Diaspora: Thuy Dinh


Masthead for Issue October 2024

Fiction, Brave New World Literature Feature, and Interview: Lee Yew Leong
Poetry: Danielle Pieratti
Nonfiction: Ian Ross Singleton
Drama: Caridad Svich
Visual: Heather Green
Criticism: Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg
Outsiders Special Feature: Lee Yew Leong
Illustrations and Cover: Anastassia Tretiakova

Assistant Managing Editor (supervising issue production): Janet Phillips

Assistant Managing Editor (supervising Assistant Editors): Alex Tan

Assistant Managing Editors (supervising Editors-at-Large): Daljinder Johal and Kathryn Raver

Assistant Managing Editor (overseeing blog production): Hilary Ilkay

Assistant Managing Editor (HR): Ella Dailey

Chief Executive Assistant: Rachel Farmer

Senior Executive Assistants: Julie Shi and Chinmay Rastogi

Executive Assistants: Meenakshi Ajit, Haeri Lee, and Charlotte Chadwick

Blog Editors: Xiao Yue Shan, Bella Creel, and Meghan Racklin

Art Director: Lee Yew Leong

Guest Artist Liaison: Berny Tan

Senior Copy Editors: Jennifer Busch, Mia Manns, Rachel Stanyon, and Maggie Wang

Copy Editors: Sophie Eliza Benbelaid, Sauvryn Linn, Joseph Mcalhany, Willem Marx, Jenna Nelson Patton, Matilde Ribeiro, Mia Ruf, Ellen Sprague, Iona Tait, Josh Todarello, and Urooj

Technical Manager: József Szabó

Director of Outreach: Georgina Fooks

Podcast Editor: Vincent Hostak

English Social Media: Ruwa Alhayek, Carissa Coane, Livia Djelani, and Hannah Landau

French Social Media: Filip Noubel

Spanish Social Media: Sergio Serrano

Graphic Designer: Michael Laungjessadakun

Senior Digital Editor: Matthew Redman

Digital Editors: Julia Maria and Savitri Asokan

Marketing Manager: Kate Lofthouse

Director, Educational Arm: Sarah Nasar

Educational Arm Assistants: Mary Hillis, Marissa Lydon, Anna Rumsby, Devi Sastry, and Sonakshi Srivastava

Book Club Manager: Carol Khoury

Business Developer: Emily Zhou

Asymptote would like to acknowledge the support of Phuong Anh, Katy Derbyshire, Kevin Kunstadt, Minju Kwak, Josefina Massot, Samuel Miller, Jason Tougaw, and Randi Ward.

For their generous donations this past quarter, our heartfelt thanks go too to Chenxin Jiang, Claire Hegarty, Daniel Hahn, Elena Barcia, Ferran Pericas Cladera, Geoffrey Howes, Harry Leeds, Il Park, Jane Kirby, Jeffrey Boyle, Katarzyna Bartoszynska, Lynn O'Neal, Marjolijn de Jager, Mark Cohen, Martin Ingebrigtsen, Monty Reid, Pavlos Stavropoulos, Theresa Henderson, Thomas Carroll, Thuy Dinh, and Velina Manolova.

We would also like to welcome Roberta Newman who joined us as a sustaining member this past quarter.