reth aur Reghistan

Reth aur Reghistan is a multidisciplinary literary-visual arts exploration of Pakistani folklore carried out in collaboration with Nimra Bandukwala. 

The project began in 2019 as a way for us to connect with stories from the place we grew up. 

​We use foraged and found materials to create sculptures and visual art that interprets themes, motifs, scenes, and characters from folklore. We're interested in how stories are passed down, and the material nature of oral storytelling. 

Through Reth aur Reghistan, we have published a collection of poetry, prose, and visual art titled Women Wide Awake (Mawenzi House Publishers, 2023).

In 2023, we completed a two-week artist residency at Jumblies Theatre and Arts, where we created a life-size Mannat tree out of paper mache. We invited members of the community to leave their hopes, wishes, and prayers on the tree. 

We facilitate workshops on folklore, sustainable art-making practices, storytelling, and more. 

Orbital Cultivation

Orbital Cultivation is a collaboration with Liam Burke, and golden shovel of the poem “And In Our Time” by Phyllis Webb. This short poem sequence is a long poem about space, love, and loss.

The chapbook is accompanied by a point-and-click game created through RPGMaker MV. The game allows you to play as the characters in the poem as you explore the spaceship and find poems from the collection.

Play Orbital Cultivation for free. 

VII Poetry

VII is seven voices fused into one exquisite corpse: Manahil Bandukwala, Ellen Chang-Richardson, Conyer Clayton, nina jane drystek, Chris Johnson, Margo LaPierre and Helen Robertson. Based on the belief that seven minds are better than one and that many ideas make joyous chorus, we say: We are I and I is VII. Formed in March 2020, VII is based in Ottawa, Ontario, the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg First Nation.

VII has two chapbooks, Holy Disorder of Being (Gap Riot Press, 2022) and Towers (Collusion Books, 2021).

Sprawl | the time it took us to forget

Co-written with Conyer Clayton, Sprawl | the time it took us to forget explores themes of distance, ecological devastation, and connection.
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Sprawl | the time it took us to forget was shortlisted for the 2021 bpNichol Chapbook Award.

Watch and listen to the chapbook set against a musical soundscape composed by Conyer Clayton, Nathanael Larochette, and Liam Burke. ​