Annie Zaidi's Blog

One of the good things that happened over the last year: my short story, ‘Zinnias in the Graveyard’, won third prize (shared with Brecht De Poortere) at the Hudson Review Short Story competition 2024-25. It took a while but the story has finally been published in the Summer 2025 issue of the Hudson Review. Here's a brief excerpt: The last gardener Shafiqa had hired asked for three

A new-ish review of my book Bread, Cement, Cactus: A Memoir of Belonging and Dislocation in Cha journal:'The plurality inherent in the experience of belonging necessitates a perspective that moves beyond national constructs. While borders impose physical limitations, the sense of belonging is irreducible to a singular or monolithic national identity. The persistent enmity between India

Kufr hai gar na karoon naghma e asnaam ki baatYaad aati hai har ik baat pe ilhaam ki baatJhanjhana uthte hain sab taar kisi veena keZehen mein goonjti hai guzri hui shaam ki baatYe mohabbat hai koi shakl e riyazi to nahinTumne aaghaaz mein kya chhed hi anjaam ki baatJalwagah, qatlgah, ahl e mohabbat bhi to haiJo na jaane vo kare mehar e lab e baam ki baatMuskuraate hue alfaaz ki tah tak jaaoMere

From an interview in Helter Skelter magazine:The first thing that struck me when reading The Comeback is that it feels like it takes place at a distance from where the quote unquote “action” is. I found that such an interesting choice, where we’re hearing about things from a distance, and we’re not on the stage itself. What made you want to set it at that distance? That’s

An interview in Helter Skelter:The first thing that struck me when reading The Comeback is that it feels like it takes place at a distance from where the quote unquote “action” is. I found that such an interesting choice, where we’re hearing about things from a distance, and we’re not on the stage itself. What made you want to set it at that distance? That’s interesting you pick up

'Zaidi gently unfurls several interlocked questions about art, friendship, and the perpetually ugly business of making a living. Is "true" or "honest" art necessarily decoupled from the needs of the marketplace? Is the converse true, then, especially in a vastly inequitable country like India? What does "performance" even mean for someone pathologically incapable of being honest with themselves

 A first review for The Comeback in Youth ki Awaaz: 'The entire novel is built on the perceived hierarchy of the performing arts, and the author subtly makes a point about how many of the attempts at decolonisation end up magnifying the same systems they were supposed to overthrow. Through Asghar’s stubborn decision to insist on centring his theatre in his hometown, Baansa, the author

An extract from the first chapter of my newest novel, The Comeback. Read, and if you find yourself enjoying it, do pick up a copy.There were five missed calls. By the time I got around to calling Asghar back, it was past midnight but he wouldn’t mind, I was certain. We often talked into the wee hours even on weekdays. He never said a word about having to be up at six in the morning and dropping

I have a new essay in Ananke magazine's 10th anniversary special edition. My essay is titled 'Against the Calculus of Skin'. I was thinking of how much of a woman's existence is defined by her body - how much skin is (in)visible, and how cultural notions of attractive/acceptable intersect with politics in our times. A brief extract from it, here: I am tired of skin. I am tired of the way

Ye khyaal e diwana aaj phir kahaan guzraIk-ik lamhe par hashr ka gumaan guzraNok e khaar par chalna humin ko tha maloomAaj khaarzaaron se poora kaarwaan guzraZikr doston ka tha doston ki mehfil thiDushmanon ko kya kahiye dost ko garaan guzraJab firaq aa pahuncha bhoolne ki manzil takQafila ummeedon ka dil mein nagahaan guzraTohfa e judaai tha ashk e surmaye e aaloodaMain jo ro pada aakhir mujhko