This issue of The Istanbul Review explores fiction in a multitude of forms. An introduction to a novel by Elif Shafak, flash-fiction by Nasim Marie Jafry and 62-word sestudes by Sara Sheridan are nestled among short stories by Benjamin Wood, Jessica Zbeida and Stephen Mason that will take you from a freezing St. Louis to the deserts of Afghanistan.

A wonderful piece by Indian author, Jyotirmoyee Sen, has been translated for the first time by Apala G. Egan and is presented to you in both its original Bengali and English.

New to this issue, we have also included an ‘Outtake’ from Lesley Glaister’s latest novel, Little Egypt. The Outtake is a opportunity to read about the author’s process, an extract from the published novel and a section which did not make it into the last draft, but remained dear to the author’s heart.

With poetry by Kirk Nesset, Andrew Najberg, Christopher Bakken, Nabin Kumar Chhetri, Antony Johae, Donna Pucciana, James B. Nicola, Rich Ives, Richard King Perkins II, Tracey S. Rosenberg and Tom Holmes the issue also boasts the artwork of Marie Varley and famous Turkish painter, Canan Berber.