Dear Odders,
I hope you’re all safe, warm and have a happy thing going for you.
This issue has been hard, and I am grateful it’s here.
It may seem funny, but this little space called The Odd Magazine has continuously drawn me out of bed in the darkest of afternoons, since 2012.
At some point this year I learned to re-hear Dostoevsky and appreciate how Russian novels build brilliant bleak atmospheres while leaning into the inevitable – and it fascinates me in all the life’s Covid-ridden, broken brilliance we find ourselves today.
In this issue, I pay tribute to two dear friends I’ve lost recently: Hungryalist trilingual poet Pradip Chaudhuri (Feb 5, 1943 – Apr 25, 2021) and avant-garde artist, innovator, and writer Stephen Poleskie (June 3, 1938 – Dec 2019).
Also, I am beyond proud to present:
Odd Poetry: Betsie Flynn, Gary Cummiskey, Kevin Hibschman, and Nosakhare Collins
Odd Shorts: Louella Lester, Howie Good, Dr. Meghashri Dalvi, Doug Mathewson, and a collaborative flash by Meg Pokrass & Jeff Friedman
Odd Art: Marlon Mclean and Pere Sousa
Cover art: Rus Khutoff
For some of us, oddness is not a choice, but a disposition. If ever there was a time for it to shine, it is now.
Be kind to yourselves and others.
And forevermore, #StayOdd!
Sreemanti Sengupta
Odditor
The Odd Magazine and Odd Books
