Marking the issue’s launch in the UAE, this afternoon invites community members into a guided, yet open conversation on how we can build and nourish a local literary ecosystem and arts activations and platforms within the UAE. Speakers include author and bookmaker Ahmad Makia, visual artist Sree, issue guest editor and novelist Deepak Unnikrishnan, and Wasafiri Deputy Editor and writer Vamika Sinha as moderator.

The conversation will be followed with readings and performances – by issue contributors and those belonging to the wider UAE arts and literary scene.

📍Dubai, UAE

In celebration of the launch of Wasafiri 122: The UAE Issue, this was a roundtable discussion with three NYU Abu Dhabi alumni and issue contributors: poet and writer Aathma Nirmala Dious, researcher Noora Jabir, and writer and Wasafiri Deputy Editor Vamika Sinha.  Taking place at NYU London, this conversation was chaired by issue co-editors – and faculty at NYU Abu Dhabi – Deepak Unnikrishnan, author of Temporary People (Restless Books, 2017), and Laure Assaf, an anthropologist and specialist of Middle Eastern studies.

📍London, UK

Chaired by the issue’s guest co-editors Laure Assaf and Deepak Unnikrishnan, this was an evening of live music (by Sarathy Korwar, Al MacSween, and Tamar Osborn) and readings from issue contributors including Nadeen Dakkak, Aathma Nirmala Dious, Sara Elkamel, Augustine Paredes, and Vamika Sinha, alongside presented photographs by Manuel Benchetrit and Khaled Esguerra.

📍London, UK

I chaired a discussion with 2025 International Booker Prize winners Banu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhasthi, for their winning collection, Heart Lamp, translated from Kannada to English.

The event was held on 16 June, 2025, at Waterstones Islington, organised by And Other Stories with support from Wasafiri.

A condensed version of the interview is available to read here.

📍London, UK

I was a Summer 2022 guest programmer for Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, under the theme “More than Human”. My programming segment, titled Beyond-Ground, involved collaborations with CRANK spin studio, KAVE, MORROW Collective, DNA Wellness, SIMA Dance Company, and Cinema Akil.

📍Dubai, UAE

For SAAG Anthology's 2021 In Grief, In Solidarity event, I programmed and introduced a reading with Dubai-based writer Bhoomika Ghaghada of her essay “Karama: An Immigrant Neighborhood Transformed”.

📍Online

I conducted photowalks in Abu Dhabi, specifically the historic Mina Zayed area, for Gulf Photo Plus, a Dubai-based photography center and gallery. These walks incorporated teachings on ethics of street portraiture, narrative storytelling through photography, and the intersections of gender and class with flanerie.

📍Abu Dhabi, UAE