Israr Hasan

Stitching fragments of a city lost in time

In the contested notion of creating a ‘nation,’ few ideas provoke as much ire among the everyday citizens of a bordered entity as the concept of a space—one that carries with it the weight of instilling an identity.

2d ago

Down the rabbit hole of science and art

The city of Prague, now the capital of the Czech Republic, was once the breeding hotspot of the 20th century’s greatest writers, scientists, scholars, and activists.

4m ago

Witnessing the Turkish century

In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.

8m ago

An enigma amongst nations

In Alex Christofi’s newly published fascinating book—Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean—we get a deep close-range look at one of world civilisation’s interesting hotspots that has long swayed between the cross-currents of the rise and fall of the great monotheisms.

9m ago

A love letter to traveling with friends

A review of ‘Roaming’ (Drawn and Quarterly, 2023) by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

11m ago

A graphic novel on the push and pull of friendships

The stories occur in places deeply etched into many of our memories—from rooftops to buses to benches in the park to the digital world of emails and texts.

2y ago

Lee Lai's 'Stone Fruit': Jokes, rhymes, and the depths of relationships

One of the most searing scenes in Lee Lai’s magnificent graphic novel, Stone Fruit (Fantagraphics, 2021) is when a young child, Nessie,

3y ago

Abdulrazak Gurnahs 'Afterlives': The repercussions of colonialism, unveiled

Abdulrazak Gurnah, this year’s Nobel laureate in literature, seems to come as an admirable choice compared to the Nobel Prize’s controversial recent history.

3y ago
April 10, 2025
April 10, 2025

Stitching fragments of a city lost in time

In the contested notion of creating a ‘nation,’ few ideas provoke as much ire among the everyday citizens of a bordered entity as the concept of a space—one that carries with it the weight of instilling an identity.

November 14, 2024
November 14, 2024

Down the rabbit hole of science and art

The city of Prague, now the capital of the Czech Republic, was once the breeding hotspot of the 20th century’s greatest writers, scientists, scholars, and activists.

August 1, 2024
August 1, 2024

Witnessing the Turkish century

In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.

June 27, 2024
June 27, 2024

An enigma amongst nations

In Alex Christofi’s newly published fascinating book—Cypria: A Journey to the Heart of the Mediterranean—we get a deep close-range look at one of world civilisation’s interesting hotspots that has long swayed between the cross-currents of the rise and fall of the great monotheisms.

May 1, 2024
May 1, 2024

A love letter to traveling with friends

A review of ‘Roaming’ (Drawn and Quarterly, 2023) by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

October 19, 2022
October 19, 2022

A graphic novel on the push and pull of friendships

The stories occur in places deeply etched into many of our memories—from rooftops to buses to benches in the park to the digital world of emails and texts.

April 7, 2022
April 7, 2022

Lee Lai's 'Stone Fruit': Jokes, rhymes, and the depths of relationships

One of the most searing scenes in Lee Lai’s magnificent graphic novel, Stone Fruit (Fantagraphics, 2021) is when a young child, Nessie,

October 14, 2021
October 14, 2021

Abdulrazak Gurnahs 'Afterlives': The repercussions of colonialism, unveiled

Abdulrazak Gurnah, this year’s Nobel laureate in literature, seems to come as an admirable choice compared to the Nobel Prize’s controversial recent history.

September 24, 2021
September 24, 2021

Blood Brothers: exploring Ali and X’s bittersweet friendship

There are very few friendships that have attracted the public eye and provoked reactions of dread and rapacious approval in equanimity. One of those friendships - better described as blood brothers - is that of the charismatic militant civil rights activist, Malcolm X and the greatest boxer of all time, the ballistic and eye-brow raising trash talker, Muhammad Ali.

September 3, 2021
September 3, 2021

Here’s why switching to ebooks is a good idea

Reading is popular. It has always been that way. Human beings have been reading ever since patterns of writing first emerged in cuneiform in Mesopotamia and books have always contained a kernel of our individual merriments.