Writing Irrationality
I seek to capture in words the nature of experience. I’m particularly fascinated by irrationality. What habits and structures allow irrational behaviour? How do we decide what’s rational, what’s goal and what’s distraction? How do we struggle against irrationality? I dream of a world where we prod each other to confront these scary questions. For me, that journey starts in exploring irrationality through fiction and through science.
About Me
I’ve written a collection of literary realist short stories about the lives of women and girls in contemporary India — titled At Play and Other Stories. Most of these stories have been published in magazines around the world, though that hasn’t stopped me from revising them thoroughly afterwards. One of these stories won a Pushcart nomination. I’ve begun querying the book with agents and submitting it to small presses.
I’m working on my next short story collection. Projects on the back burner: a trio of novellas following myself and some friends through the PhD experience; a pseudohistorical novel about coming-of-age, family ties, blind faith, and personal responsibility in the context of a political dystopia; and a high-fantasy novel examining class privilege, activism, and escapism in the context of ongoing environmental catastrophe.
I have a PhD in cognitive science. My doctoral work used behavioural economics to study the valuation and discounting of nonmarket goods.
I’m a contributing editor at Fairfield Scribes Microfiction, interviews editor and columnist at Mean Pepper Vine, and slushpile reader at The Metaworker. Formerly, I was a reader and review board member at Bewildering Stories, a member of the Internet Writing Workshop‘s Fiction list, and a vegan.
I live in Bangalore, India: the city that was once known for its parks and lakes, and is now known for its record-setting traffic, powercuts, crowding, and droughts. Most of my current friends are critique partners based in the US — long live email. I’m also now beginning to connect with the fabulous community of readers and writers in India. I work at Transitions Research, designing and implementing interventions to promote sustainable behaviour.
Apart from writing, I like reading, running, and listening to classical music. Favourite musicians: Beethoven, Haydn, and Bach. I’ve read mostly older fiction (favourite writers: George Eliot, Aristophanes, Ibsen), though I’m venturing now into more recent fiction. Favourite finds so far: Alice Munro, Thomas Mann, Graham Greene, Herman Hesse, Richard Powers, Lydia Davis, Deborah Eisenberg, and Peter Cameron. I’m also slowly exploring contemporary and modern music. Favourite bands: Led Zeppelin and Green Day.
On this blog I post mostly book reviews, and monthly reviews of my life in literature; occasionally I post interviews with writers about new releases.
I’m always looking to connect with other readers and writers. Drop me a line!
My Published Work
Fiction
Unless otherwise noted, stories are literary realism.
Upcoming:
- Jun-Jul 2024 – Microstories “Night” and “Hiccup” in Fairfield Scribes Micro
- [Date Unknown] – “Time” in Cafe Lit‘s Best of 2023 volume
- [Date unknown] – Flash story “Time” in Mikrokosmos/Mojo
- [Date unknown] – Spring 2024 – Short story “Better Late Than Never” in Phoebe Journal as a finalist in the short story contest (winners TBD)
- [Date unknown] – Flash story “The Problem” in Assignment
- Summer 2024 — Short Story “Field Trip” in Jelly Bucket
- June 7 – Flash story “Backsides” in Witcraft
- June 2024 – Speculative short story “The Cure” in 50th Anniversary Issue of Alchemy
- Autumn 2024 – Short Story “Field Trip” in El Portal
Published:
May 2024 – The first episode of The Metaworker’s Puschart Nominees podcast special, featuring two fellow nominees and myself, reading excerpts from our nominated pieces and answering the editors’ thoughtful questions about our writing lives.
May 2024 — Microstory “Mosquito” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #40
March 2024 – Short story “All Creatures Great and Small” in Moonlighting by Lit Pub
March 2024 – Microstory “In Two Minds” in Five Minute Lit
March 2024 – Microstory “In Two Minds” in Fairfield Scribes Vol. 39.
February 2024 – Short story “All Creatures Great and Small” in Kitaab: Editors’ Pick of the Week.
January 2024 — Microstory “Hiccup” in Fairfield Scribes Vol. 37.
Dec 2023 — Short story “The Last Day of Freedom” (conceived the day I got my teaching job, which I have since quit) voted one of the best pieces published in 2024 in the weekly literary magazine Bewildering Stories. Note: I’m a member of the Review Board, and pieces by the Review Board are overrepresented in this list. But I’ve detected no bias in our weekly discussions of published pieces: my fellow Review Board members are some of the most talented and seasoned writers I know.
Dec 2023 – “Retreat” nominated for a Pushcart by The Metaworker.
Dec 2023 — Dec 2023 — Flash story “The Ants Are Thirsty” in Rappahanock Review, Vol. 11.1. Interview on this piece.
Dec 2023 — Flash story “The Streetlamp Under the Teaktree” in Bending Genres Vol. 36.
Dec 2023 — Microstory “Displacement” published in Fairfield Scribes Microfiction Issue #36.
Nov 2023 — Microstory “Refuse” published in Fairfield Scribes Microfiction Issue #35.
Nov 2023 — Short story “The City” published in Bamboo Ridge 45th Anniversary Issue, Issue #124:
https://www.bambooridge.org/article/celebrating-our-45th-anniversary-issue/
Oct 2023 — Flash story “Holiday” republished in Bull Men’s Fiction:
https://mrbullbull.com/newbull/fiction/holiday/
Sep 2023 — Microstory “Mid-Afternoon” in Fairfield Scribes #33:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-33.html
Aug 2023 – “Courage Anniversary” in Literally Stories:
https://literallystories2014.com/2023/08/24/courage-anniversary-by-amia-basu/comment-page-1/
Aug 2023 – Microstory “Fun” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #32:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-32.html
Aug 2023 – Short story “The Sacrifice” in Rollick:
https://rollickmag.com/the-sacrifice/
Aug 2023 – Short story “Retreat” in The Metaworker:
https://themetaworker.com/2023/07/31/retreat-by-amita-basu/
Jul 2023 — “Fantasising” in Fiction on the Web:
https://www.fictionontheweb.co.uk/2023/07/fantasising-by-amita-basu.html
Jul 2023 — Microstory “Friend” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #31:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-31.html/
July 2023 – Flash story “Shoes” in Funicular Issue#12:
https://www.funicularmagazine.com/shop/issue-11-8s2nt
June 2023 – Short story “The Decision” in CommuterLit:
https://commuterlit.com/2023/06/monday-the-decision/
June 2023 – microstory “Dig” in Fairfield Scribes Micro:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-30.html/
May 2023 – Flash story “Backsides” in Literally Stories:
https://literallystories2014.com/2023/05/31/backsides-by-amita-basu/
May 2023 – Microstory “Moan” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #29:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-29.html
May 2023 – Short story “Courage Anniversary” in CommuterLit:
https://commuterlit.com/2023/05/tuesday-courage-anniversary/
April 2023 – Microstory “Change” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #28:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-28.html
April 2023 – “Timeshare” in Bewildering Stories
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue994/timeshare1.html
April 2023 – “Time” in Café Lit
https://www.cafelitmagazine.uk/2023/04/time-by-amita-basu-lemonade-salt-only.html
Mar 2023 – short story “Last Day of Freedom” in Bewildering Stories
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue990/last_day_freedom1.html
Fall 2020, delivered in Mar 2023 – Flash story “Dusk” published in Proem Issue #2
(print only; lit mag website: https://proemjournal.wixsite.com/proem/issues)
Mar 2023 – Microstory “Rage” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #27:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-27.html
February 2023 – Microstory “Walking” in OPEN Journal of Arts and Letters –
https://ojalart.com/flash-discourse-fictionamita-basuwalking/
February 2023 – Microstory “Afterwards” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #26:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-26.html
January 2023 – Short story “Night” in The Chamber Magazine (published in June 2022, but I found out about it only now)
https://thechambermagazine.com/2022/06/03/night-dark-fiction-by-amita-basu/
January 2023 – Short story “Night” in The Dalhousie Review’s Summer 2022 Issue (The India Issue)
https://ojs.library.dal.ca/dalhousiereview/article/view/11576
January 2023 – Microstory “DIY” in Fairfield Scribes Microfiction Issue #25
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-25.html/
January 2023 – Short story “The Why and the How” in Mean Pepper Vine
Issue: https://meanpeppervine.com/the-mean-journal-winter-2022-23/
Piece: https://meanpeppervine.com/the-why-and-the-how/
January 2023 – Short stories “Courage Anniversary” and “Re:Birth” in Caustic Frolic.
Flipbook, PDF, or website here and here.
January 2023 – Flash story “The Revolutionaries” in Bewildering Stories” Issue #979:
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue979/revolutionaries.html
December 2022 – Short story “Retreat” in Constellations anthology Vol. 12 Uncertainty
http://www.constellations-lit.com/issues/issues/vol12.html
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0BQYBTBGG/astheappletur-20?creative=327641&camp=14573&link_code=as1
December 2022 – “Sunday Afternoon” in Scribes Microfiction:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-24.html
December 2022 – Flash story “Backsides” in Mid-Atlantic Review:
https://www.bowiestate.edu/academics/colleges/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments/language-literature-and-cultural-studies/ceamag/ceamarvolume302023.pdf
November 2022 – Short essay “Let the Wine Mature” in Writer Shed Press’s Medium edition https://medium.com/the-writer-shed/take-your-time-dde36a179ad1
November 2022 – Microstory “The Doll” in Fairfield Scribes Issue #23:
https://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-23.html
August 2022 – Short story “Forgive” in The Bombay Lit Mag, Issue #52:
https://bombaylitmag.com/category/issue-52/
https://bombaylitmag.com/mothers-and-sons/
July 2022 – Novelette “To Decide Or Not to Decide” in the Summer 2022 issue of The Courtship of the Winds :
The issue: https://www.thecourtshipofwinds.org/issue-10-2
My story: https://www.thecourtshipofwinds.org/amita-basu
July 2022 – Micro/flash collection *One Day* in Mean Pepper Vine:
https://meanpeppervine.com/one-day/
June 2022 – Flash story “The Hours,” originally published in Down in the Dirt Vol. 186, republished in The Bookends Review:
http://thebookendsreview.com/2022/06/02/the-hours/
Short story “Last Day of Freedom” in Funemployment:
https://funemployment.xyz/product/funemployment-quarterly-spring-of-year-one-virtual/
Flash story “Waiting” in The Penn Review:
https://www.pennreview.org/#/no-71/
Microstory “Highway” in Fairfield Scribes Micro:
http://www.fairfieldscribes.com/issue-17.html
Short story “The Why & the How” published in Bewildering Srories:
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue940/why_how1.html
Voted best prose piece of the quarter (First Quarter, 2022)
Flash story “Fish” published by Bandit Fiction:
https://banditfiction.com/2022/02/12/fish-by-amita-basu/
Flash story “School Trip” in Sledgehammer
https://www.sledgehammerlit.com/post/school-trip-by-amita-basu
Short story “Rush” in The Black Fork Review
https://iris-apricot-t8m8.squarespace.com/amita-basu
Novelette “At Play” at Fairlight Books Short Story Portal / Fairlight Shorts in 2021:
https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/short_stories/at-play/
Refeatured as Story of the Week in 2022:
https://www.fairlightbooks.co.uk/at-play/
Short story “The Decision” at Rollick Magazine:
https://rollickmag.com/the-decision/
Magic realist short story “Courage Anniversary” in The Dillydoun Review Vol. 9:
https://thedillydounreview.com/issue-9/amita-basu/
Flash story “They Told My Friend” in Bandit Fiction: https://banditfiction.com/2021/09/05/they-told-my-friend-by-amita-basu/
Short story “Biding Time” published on uRevolution.
Magic realist short story “Re:Birth” published in Goat’s Milk Magazine.
Humorous speculative novellete “Theory” serialised in four parts in Bewildering Stories:
Part 1 (Issue 911)
Part 2 (Issue 911)
Part 3 (Issue 912)
Part 4 (Issue 912)
Flash story “The One Thing” published in Potato Soup Journal’s *Best Of 2020* collection:
Buy the ebook on Amazon.
Or read the story for free in the magazine here.
Short story “Fault” published in Commuter Lit.
http://commuterlit.com/2021/06/thursday-fault/
Flash story “Promises” republished in Toyon (Vol. 67). Also published in Spanish & Chinese translation (translations not mine):
Free ebook: https://www.toyonliterarymagazine.org/read.html (“Promises” is on p6)
Free audiobook: https://www.toyonliterarymagazine.org/listen.html (“Promises” starts at 14:47)
Ebook on Amazon
Flash story “The Hours” in Down in the Dirt / Scars Mag (Vol 186 Aug 2021)
https://scars.tv/cgi-bin/framesmain.pl?writers
(This is an old website; navigating is slightly tricky. Find my name in the alphabetised list of author names in the lefthand panel; click; scroll up to the top; under my name, click on “The Hours.”)
Also part of the “Three Things” issue
And as a print book on Amazon
Flash story “Holiday” republished in Meet Cute Press Issue #2:
https://www.meetcutepress.com/post/holidayhttps://www.meetcutepress.com/post/holiday
Flash play “Trio” published in Blue Pepper:
https://bluepepper.blogspot.com/2021/03/new-one-scene-play-by-amita-basu.html
Flash story “Re:Birth” (magic realism) published in Ligeia Issue #5:
https://www.ligeiamagazine.com/fall-2020/rebirth-amita-basu/
Flash story “Promises” published in Fabula Argentea Issue #31:
https://fabulaargentea.com/index.php/article/promises-by-amita-basu/
Short story “Excuses” (suspense) published in Scarlet Leaf Review:
https://www.scarletleafreview.com/short-stories33/amita-basu-excuses
Short story “Sanctuary” published in Fearsome Critters Millennial Arts Journal. Vol. III.
Buy the book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DSS7ZD9/
Or read the flipbook for free (my story is on p92):
https://issuu.com/fearsomecritters/docs/v3_issuu
Short story “Holiday” (romance) published in The Bookends Review:
http://thebookendsreview.com/2020/07/13/holiday/
Flash story “Fish” published in Kelp Journal:
https://www.kelpjournal.com/post/sip-flash-fiction-by-amita-basu
Flash story “Noon” published in Flash Fiction Magazine:
https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2020/05/10/noon/
Flash story “Weary” published in St. Katherine Review:
https://www.stkathreview.org/weary/
Miccrostory “The One Thing” published in Mar 2020 at Potato Soup Journal. Read here:
http://potatosoupjournal.com/the-one-thing-by-amita-basu/
Short story “The Hole” (horror/magic realism) published in Feb 2020 issue of Novel Noctule. Read for free here:
https://www.novelnoctule.com/post/the-hole-by-amita-basu
The Featured Writer spotlight:
https://www.novelnoctule.com/post/writers-spotlight-amita-basu
Microstory “Obsession” in Feb 2020 in Entropy Magazine: http://entropy2.com/blogs/100words/2020/02/15/obsession/
Short story “How To Catch A Bee” (low fantasy) in Dove Tales Writing for Peace, 2020 edn.: https://writingforpeace.org/winter-2020-dovetales-fiction/
Buy the Dove Tales Writing for Peace Anthology (annual, 2013 on):
https://writingforpeace.org/shop-now/
Microstory “Gulmohar” in Winter 2019 edition of Star 82 Review, Issue 7.4: http://star82review.com/7.4/basu-gulmohar.html
Buy Issue 7.4:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/alisa-golden/star-82-review-74/paperback/product-24341882.html
Short story “The Photograph” in Gasher Journal 2019:
https://www.gasherjournal.com/single-post/2019/11/01/AMITA-BASU
Short story “Vocation” published in The Right-Eyed Deer 2011:
https://therighteyeddeer.weebly.com/uploads/6/2/1/2/6212676/tred_iss_5__e-version.pdf
Spring 2011 – two poems “In the Bath” and “When Thisbe Was Dead” in Muse India:
https://museindia.com/Home/ViewContentData?arttype=poems&issid=36&menuid=2559
Three short stories in two 2006 issues of Quirk Magazine: https://sites.google.com/site/superquirk/
Nonfiction
Book reviews, opinion pieces, and my new monthly column on sustainable living.
May 2024 — Third installment of The Argumentative Amita: “How to Survive a Work Meeting,” a humour piece.
April 2024 — A chronicle of the first of two Imagination Walks Transitions Research organised in Panjim in March. What do we envision for the future of our urban built environments?
March 2024 — (Co-authored with two colleagues) No Woman Left Behind: Shedding Light On Gender Equity in India’s Low-Carbon Transition
March 2024 – Second installment of The Argumentative Amita: “From Apathy to Action: Grappling with the ‘Wicked Problem’ of Climate Change”
Feb 2024: First installment of my monthly column The Argumentative Amita at Mean Pepper Vine: “Aboutfacing on Whataboutism.”
The Hindu Open Page article: originally titled “The Importance of Doing Nothing”
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/do-nothing-be-creative/article67693089.ece
Dec 2023 – I interviewed Chandrika R. Krishnan for Mean Pepper Vine.
The Hindu Open Page article: “Saving the World: Individual Action and Systemic Change. Was Captain Planet right?”
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/was-captain-planet-right/article32303681.ece
Feature article “An Enemy of the People – An Eye-Opening Read During the Pandemic”
https://www.thecuriousreader.in/features/an-enemy-of-the-people/
COVID-19: Past, Present, Future
https://countercurrents.org/2020/05/covid-19-past-present-future/
Retrospective on Mark Tully’s *No Full Stops in India*
https://qrius.com/mark-tullys-no-full-stops-in-india-exposes-the-decades-long-roots-of-contemporary-indias-social-chasms-systemic-injustices-and-communal-tensions/
Newspeak and Nationalism: Are we Living in 1984‘s Dystopia?
https://www.thecuriousreader.in/features/1984-dystopia/
George Orwell’s essays Presage his Masterpiece 1984: https://countercurrents.org/2020/01/orwells-essays-presage-his-masterpiece-1984
Black Mirror’s scathing social commentary is a wake-up call for contemporary democracies: https://countercurrents.org/2019/12/black-mirrors-scathing-social-commentary-is-a-wake-up-call-for-contemporary-democracies
Book Review of Richard Dawkins’s The Ancestor’s Tale:
https://countercurrents.org/2019/11/the-ancestors-tale-offers-a-fascinating-journey-back-to-our-roots
Film review of Joker (2019):
https://countercurrents.org/2019/10/joker-raises-quite-many-real-issues-sadly-only-to-skirt-them-on-its-way
A shorter film review (Note: on the MovieQuotesAndMore site, anyone can post anything; but I’d written a second, shorter, better review of Joker, so I wanted it published somewhere):
https://www.moviequotesandmore.com/joker-2019-movie-review-2/
Retrospective and analysis of Jared Diamond’s The Third Chimpanzee:
https://countercurrents.org/2019/04/the-third-chimpanzee-a-critical-retrospective-amita-basu
Why we need to reconceptualise religious festivals for environmental conservation:
https://countercurrents.org/2019/03/holi-celebrates-the-triumph-of-good-over-evil-let-us-unite-at-holi-to-slay-the-evil-of-air-pollution
Guest Post on Already Pretty on: Style, Sexual Identity, Binaries, and Perfectionism
https://www.alreadypretty.com/guest-post-amita-basu-on-style-sexual-identity-binaries-and-perfectionism/
Academic
I’ve published academic and popular writing on gifted education (the area of my Research Assistantship in this area) and behavioural economics (the area of my PhD).
Basu, A., & Srinivasan, N. (2021). A Modified Contingent Valuation Method Shrinks Gain-Loss Asymmetry. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 94, 101747.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804321000872
“The Nature and Nurture Debate” in Parent Circle, September 2016: https://www.magzter.com/article/Parenting/Parent-Circle/Giftedness-The-Nature-And-The-Nurture-Debate
A series of ten articles on parenting gifted children:
http://prodigy.net.in/books-article-report
Article in Deccan Herald: Nurturing Talent in Science, Technology, and Maths (STEM):
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/534903/nurturing-their-special-talent.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Gifted children need teachers who set intellectual challenges:
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/313552/gifted-children-need-teachers-set.html https://www.deccanherald.com/content/313552/gifted-children-need-teachers-set.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Can you tell a gifted child apart?
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/284388/can-you-tell-gifted-child.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Gifting education without prejudices:
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/353855/gifting-education-sans-prejudices.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Dealing With A Gifted Child:
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/331182/dealing-too-good-problem-child.html
Article in Deccan Herald: The Gifted Under-Achiever:
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/328231/gifted-underachiever.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Empowering Gifted Girls:
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/342492/empower-gifted-girls.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Enriching Curriculum for Gifted Children:
https://www.deccanherald.com/content/342492/empower-gifted-girls.html
Article in Deccan Herald: Help Gifted Children Excel
http://preendorse3.rssing.com/chan-3378153/all_p70.html
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Amita Basu 