Title: stark electric space
Description: The Stark Electric Space, collected, published, and printed under the Graffitti Kolkata imprint by the redoubtable Subhankar Das (whose poetry has graced DM's pages) TSES is a breathing refutation that print literary journals are by and large bereft in visual presence not to mention creative energy. Down here in the 21st Century, the visual is every bit as much living content as digits and letters, a complement and a collaborator to ink that simply isn't going anywhere, no matter how many of the ivory ossuary crowd pretend otherwise. TSES embraces this reality with relish and aplomb, as much a visual treat as it is a deeply satisfying read.
 
While many of the authors found in TSES are from the literary treasure troves of today's India, the simmering masala Subhankar has concocted is well flavoured with art & writing from around the world. This is a truly cosmopolitan, international effort that radiates creative energy, the kind of volume I find informs as well as challenges my own ink energies, the kind that is at my side when boarding the next flight. Really, in all the right ways, TSES (and its radiant brethren website, graffiti kolkata broadside visit here) each represent delightful excursions, jetting past the visual and editorial conventions weighing so heavily on current American letters in a sleek flurry of smart, shrewd creativity, transporting passengers to new visions, fresh voices, and where this interesting century's story-telling is likely headed toward. A splendid time was had in all.