Review of Ana Paula Maia’s On Earth As It Is Beneath, Longlisted for the International Booker Prize
Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia’s novella *On Earth As It Is Beneath*, translated by Padma Viswanathan, has been longlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. The story follows a deranged prison warden who turns his colony into a hunting ground, forcing inmates into a brutal survivalist existence. Set on a former plantation, the narrative links contemporary cruelty to Brazil’s legacy of slavery and state violence. Maia’s female authorial gaze and Viswanathan’s stark translation reject romanticising masculine brutality.
Arithmetic of Loss | Review of Mirza Waheed’s Maryam & Son
Mirza Waheed’s novel *Maryam & Son* follows Maryam, a widowed Muslim‑British mother in suburban London, whose son Dilawar vanishes and is suspected—via a 72% algorithmic match—to be an ISIS recruit. The narrative intertwines personal grief with the intrusive scrutiny of...
Review of Kalpana Karunakaran’s A Woman Of No Consequence
Kalpana Karunakaran’s new book *A Woman of No Consequence* weaves her grandmother Pankajam’s life into a broader portrait of India’s early post‑independence era. Drawing on letters, poems, and family archives, the narrative follows three generations of Tamil women confronting caste,...
2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist ‘Examines the Messy Business of Being Human’
The Women’s Prize for Fiction announced its 2026 longlist on March 4, featuring sixteen titles that grapple with climate change, artificial intelligence, identity and migration. Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard chairs the judging panel, emphasizing fiction’s power to explore the...
‘One Piece’ Creator Eiichiro Oda Hides Series’ Biggest Secret Under the Ocean as Manga Hits 600 Million Copies
The legendary manga One Piece has topped 600 million copies in global circulation with the release of Volume 114, marking a historic publishing milestone. To commemorate, creator Eiichiro Oda recorded the answer to the series' central mystery—the nature of the One Piece...
Review of That’s a Fire Ant Right There, Stories by Telugu Writer Mohammed Khadeer Babu
Sudipta Datta reviews *That’s a Fire Ant Right There*, a new anthology of 50 short stories by Telugu author Mohammed Khadeer Babu, translated into English by D.V. Subhashri. The collection uses a young narrator’s Nellore‑dialect voice to expose myths, caste bias, patriarchal norms,...
Another Anna’s Archive Link Goes Down as Portal Backtracked on Spotify Data Release
Anna’s Archive’s .li domain went offline, prompting users to seek alternative access points. The shadow library previously scraped roughly 86 million Spotify tracks—about 300 TB of audio and metadata—and has temporarily halted the release after intense legal pressure. Ongoing lawsuits from music...