Aster Lit: Wanderlust
Issue 6—Summer 2022
Starlit Awards in Poetry and Prose
Each issue, we hope to recognize submissions outstanding in mastery of craft or originality of voice. This issue, the winners of the Starlit Award in Poetry and the Starlit Award in Prose each will receive monetary awards of $100. We are proud to present the Summer 2022 Starlit Award to Pritha Jain (India) and Tania Banerjee (India). Honorable mention recipients are Samuel Ajani (Nigeria), Zainab Saeed (South Africa), and Elena Jiang (China).
Scroll down to read the rest of the Summer 2022 Issue.
Pritha Jain — Poetry
Starlit Award Winner
Samuel Ajani — Poetry
Honorable Mention
Zainab Saeed — Poetry
Honorable Mention
Tania Banerjee — Prose
Starlit Award Winner
Elena Jiang — Prose
Honorable Mention
wanderlust
n.
the strong desire or longing for wandering
Theme Winners
Each issue, we recognize two theme winners—one for poetry and one for prose—who we believe demonstrate thoughtful and creative engagement with our theme and sophisticated use of their craft to tell compelling and unique stories. Theme winners for our Summer 2022 Issue are Bayan Arif (Pakistan) and A.J. Gallows (South Africa).
Read more about the theme here.
Bayan Arif — Poetry
A.J. Gallows — Prose
Poetry
Themed Poetry
Ariana Thornton — creation story
Bayan Arif — Let's Wander Together While Being Apart
Elena Jiang — Introductions at the Orphanage
Franklin Yorm — A Traveler's Dilemma
George Gumikiriza — Looking for my Muse
Hebe Kearney — subtle knife
Hunza Ghanchi — Home or somewhere far away from it?
Iman Waqas — Eulogy Of A Revived Heart
Olalekan Hussein — Litanies — The rendition of life for a faithless boy.
Paridhi Poddar — Wish Fountains
Samuel Ajani — Portrait of a Boy Crusading for Joy
Sayani Mukherjee — A hazel hope
Tania Banerjee — Doorways
Zaynab Bobi — Tradition
Unthemed Poetry
Pritha Jain — three tiered daydreams
Zainab Saeed — I Swallow Mangoes Whole
Prose
Themed Prose
A.J. Gallows — Desert Walker
Ashley-Christabelle Omoregie — This Is Home
Elena Jiang — My Grandfather Tells Me
Emmanuel Ede — Have You Seen The Wind?
Jada Leung — The Search
Lyra Adney — This Small Infinity
Sabrina Anwar Qureshi — If I lived by the sea
Tania Banerjee — Women Eat Their Hunger for Lunch
Unthemed Prose
Hunza Ghanchi — Kitchen
Jerubel Keziah — None Can Hear Thee Scream
V. M. — Soucouyant
Note from the Editors
Wanderlust: what word more fitting for an international writing community? With voices from all across the globe, the writing in these pages serve as a microcosm of people, places, and experiences unlike any other. Through these poems and stories, we hope you’ll wander—even if only for a moment—through starlit streets and sun-drenched elsewheres.
This issue, we received 482 incredible submissions from over 40 different countries. Issue 6 also marked the highest number of prose pieces we’ve ever included in a publication reflecting the growing quality of writing within the Aster Lit community. As always, we felt so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to wander through your written worlds. To you, a member of our wonderful constellation of stars—whether you’re a reader, a writer, or something entirely different—thank you for making Aster Lit possible.
Selecting pieces for our final publication takes hours of careful consideration and difficult decisions. We truly wish we could publish every submission we receive. If your piece was not selected this issue, we hope you will consider submitting to our upcoming Fall 2022 Issue. Aster Lit Issue 7 will be open for submissions starting in mid-July, and we would love to read what you’ve got! In the meantime, you can follow us on Instagram (@aster.lit) to stay involved with our community and receive the latest updates on our magazine submissions.
We love you. Your voice matters. Keep telling stories.
Sincerely,
The Aster Lit Team