The Hooghly Review will drop a special issue this winter, and we have a special guest editor helming the project: François Bereaud. Special issues have been a long time coming, but with our Issue 4 currently shelved for April 2025 due to unavoidable circumstances, this is the perfect time to get the first of these rolling. And who better than François whose mural photography not only made it to the cover of Issue 2 but also got the two of us developing the theme for the first of the special issues?
A terrific writer and photographer, François Bereaud has travelled through the US, Mexico, Canada, France, Spain, Iceland and elsewhere, and has captured breathtaking shots of murals, street art and graffiti wherever he has been to. He modestly says he “writes, sometimes publishes, edits, and supports writers,” and is excited for his short story collection, San Diego Stories, coming out in September 2024. We are thrilled to have him on board and urge you to learn more about the math professor-cum-writer at francoisbereaud.com. Here are François’ thoughts on the theme:
I love public art, especially murals. They can provide a splash of beauty in an unexpected place, but, also, a window into the community: its joys, sorrows, pains, and resiliency. They can be political, not uncommonly a symbol of force to the oppressive powers that be. They can provide hope and love. One of the places closest to my heart, Philadelphia, is a treasure trove of murals. Here are two images which capture some of those sentiments. We look forward to receiving images from across the globe to, in turn, inspire writers from far and wide.
Phase 1 — The Photographers
Abhik Ganguly | Andrea Villa Franco | Antara Mukherjee | Arti Jain | Aster Leonis | Betty Carr | Binod Dawadi | D.C. Nobes | Devjani Bodepudi | Elisa Dominique Rivera | Hema Nataraju | Janna Wilson | Jeff Bogle | Kathleen Fullerton | Louella Lester | Maria Mocerino | Mathew Gostelow | Maureen Tai | Michele Parker Randall | M.R. Mandell | Natalie Wolf | Nishi Pulugurtha | Peter Devonald | Sayantani Roy | Sonja Berry | Veeddeya Dheda
Phase 2 — The Inspired Writers
Adele Evershed | Amy Barnes | Beth Sherman | Charles Pineda | Cole Beauchamp | D.W. Baker | Doug Jacquier | Dragana Kršenković Brković and Aleksandra Nikčević-Batričević (translation) | Ecem Yucel | Elisa Dominique Rivera | Gretchen Filart | Isaac Kilibwa | James Lilliefors | Jay McKenzie | JD Clapp | Jona Ray | Karen Grose | Kathleen Fullerton | Kritika Narula | Laura Cooney | Louella Lester | Madeleine Armstrong | Michele Parker Randall | MJ Huntsgood | Mona Mehas | Noopur Vedajna Das | Philippa Bowe | Prithvijeet Sinha | Rachel Turney | Roger Hare | Ronita Chattopadhyay | Sarah Das Gupta | Shalini Maiti | Shikha S. Lamba | Sumitra Singam | Suze Kay | Tim Moder
Coming Soon.
