Desi Books (March 2020 – January 2023) was a multimedia forum showcasing South Asian literature from the world over and connecting readers and writers through conversation and community.

I founded it at the start of the global pandemic to 1) help our writers find their readers because traditional, mainstream media chases a few at the expense of many; 2) celebrate the plenitude and diversity of South Asian literature through conversation and community. Read more about the origins.

During this tenure, 180 individual authors/poets/translators, 23 contributing book reviewers, and 1200+ books were featured. The ~three-year archive of text, audio*, and video features will remain online via the links below. It has been my honor to help raise the tide of South Asian literature in this way. I am grateful to all who trusted me with their works: the authors, poets, translators, book reviewers, publicists, publishers, subscribers, et al.

Stay healthy, keep reading, and write well. And please keep raising the tide of South Asian literature.

– Jenny Bhatt
Author, Literary Translator, Book Critic, Writing Instructor, and Desi Books Founder

*To listen to the audio features, go to: Anchor.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Breaker, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Overcast