ABOUT US

         In the summer of 2021, a group of friends set out to launch Gentle Visitations, a literary magazine for English-language literary writing.  The path then appeared challenging because Urdu creative writing has a strong presence in Pakistan’s literary landscape owing to a large number of renowned authors and poets. Due to its receptiveness to shifting geopolitical, cultural, literary, and aesthetic trends, Urdu writing has retained its remarkable vigour since the nineteenth century. In contrast, Anglophone literary texts have a relatively small readership despite their triumph on the global literary scene since the turn of the millennium. A significant portion of Pakistan’s population is still unaware of many of our authors and their English literary works, even though Pakistani authors have been writing in English for more than 50 years, and their publication of English-language fiction has increased noticeably over the past 20 years. As a result, there aren’t many venues for anglophone emergent literary writing in Pakistan, leaving many fresh, passionate voices unheard, unnoticed, and lost. Additionally, in a time when social media is pervasive, welcoming a diverse range of literary works and encouraging up-and-coming writers in Pakistan and around the world, Gentle Visitations emphatically tells why it exists.

               Literature is not divorced from its social engagement; it is not an escape from reality and a transfer to a fantasy world. Writers can give us a current of life that is submerged but creative with many layers of meaning through the experiences they feel deeply in their hearts. In this regard, Gentle Visitations is a social project as it gives aspiring writers a platform to express their vision, grief, and observations on a contemporary society where people feel increasingly alone, alienated, and despairing. It is an acknowledgement of the contribution literary writers have made to the evolution of human civilisation and culture by portraying the fullness of life, capturing a sense of life as it is lived, and illuminating its distinctive texture. From this vantage point, this literary magazine adds its voice to the many others around the globe that recognise the value of literature and the arts in shaping culture and civilisation for the greater good and ensuring a livable future for humans and other species that share the same planet. More than ever, literary magazines are necessary to give writers a space to envision a beautiful world and to create it in keeping with their ideals.

              Being fully conscious of both this reality and the critical role that literary writers perform, Gentle Visitations attempts to preserve contemporary writers’ literary expressions, thought processes, and perspectives. Our sincere goal is to ensure that with the gentle support of Gentle Visitations, contemporary and the upcoming generation of writers and readers thrives, cultivating their creative potential and artistic sensibility in a world marred by wars, violence, and hate speech. Working under the ideals of diversity and inclusiveness, we encourage writing from everyone who wants to reflect and share their reflections. We reassure them that their path to creativity will not be obstructed. Gentle Visitations welcomes them to share their fresh voices and start their literary journeys.

             The community of readers at Gentle Visitation is invited to a fascinating journey to discover the connections between the writers’ minds and society. This will explore life caught in the complex web of modern industrial and technological expansion, history, and various environmental, social, cultural, and political crises brought on by modern civilisation. We expect that when reading these literary works, our readers will approach them with an open mind and a sharp eye to seek the nuanced ways in which authors’ imaginations work to give ordinary events and everyday life unique expressions and provide more profound meaning. We encourage our readers to read with an open mind, just like the writer would so that stories and poems release the meaning of their own volition.

              It gives us great pleasure to present the first issue of Gentle Visitations. Our talented, committed, and open-minded team of editors is enthusiastic about receiving fresh, insightful, and diverse unsolicited submissions from everywhere as they work together to make Gentle Visitations a happy home for budding authors. The brilliant and creative website designer and her Webtech team have produced a visually appealing, interactive, and user-friendly website for the digital magazine. We hope Gentle Visitations will create a fresh literary ecosystem by fostering a vibrant, engaged, diverse community of writers and readers.

Literature is you and me; it offers us all the beautiful ways we can live here on Earth.

Start your reading journeys with us; we are confident that our stories and poetry will stay with you.

Happy Reading &Writing!

Munazza

August 16, 2022