DHOOP JOURNAL is our attempt at creating a multilingual space for young South Asian writers to publish their work. We want to encourage the collaborative process of writing and sharing work (with people existing outside of the tightly-wound circles of friends and family). Being South Asian and writing in English makes for an uncomfortable relationship with language, so we’re open to art made in anything- whatever seems right for the writing. The journal showcases poetry, prose, (screen)plays, experimental writing and anything that doesn’t fit into these genres. We want all of it to be shown and celebrated. We made DHOOP because there weren’t many platforms on which Pakistani artists could view the work of their peers, and have their own art showcased— DHOOP JOURNAL is an attempt at filling this gap, and extending it beyond just Pakistan to the rest of South Asia. We chose the name on a painfully slow Sunday afternoon, when everything was drowning in Karachi heat and nothing seemed to move. DHOOP is for our cities, and the art that we are making within them.