Mother tongue

POEM: Dunja Kaczmarek tussles with her dear mother tongue.

Checkpoints

THOUGHT PIECE: Nevena Kesić Orlić poignantly recalls memories of a childhood spent with her father at the railways.

POEM: Ian C Smith recounts vivid memories that have made up his life in Australia.

POEM: Ibtisam Shahbaz reflects on her journey over the meditative practice of crafting tea.

POEM: Margarita Gurgutsova flits through uncertain thoughts, trying to pin down what both is and isn’t.

POEM: Vesna Cvjetićanin savours an embrace that mixes past and present, living and gone.

POEM: Jasmine Soukieh ponders the distortions we make of ourselves to fit in.

THOUGHT PIECE: Ekaterina (Katya) Reymarova reflects on belonging, and redefines it as a fluid, dynamic creation.

POEM: Miriam Riad poignantly ponders linguistic connections underneath the night sky.

ART: Madalina Valeanu recreates a familiar pattern from her childhood in Moldova.