Book Review: Riverside Stories, Edited by Banamallika

Riverside Stories: Writings from Assam, edited by Banamallika, is a powerful anthology featuring women and queer voices from Assam. Blending fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and visual art, it explores identity, resilience, and the socio-cultural fabric of Northeast India. A must-read for lovers of inclusive and thought-provoking storytelling.

Not a day goes by without reminders that something is fundamentally wrong with our world. We are all born Homo sapiens—one species—yet our lives remain divided by layers of identity, inequality, and societal expectation. Riverside Stories, a powerful anthology by women and a transgender individual from Assam, transcends our complacent cosmopolitan lives. It is a reminder that even within a shared gender, our experiences can be radically different.

Assam—the lush, green gateway to Northeast India—is often represented by Guwahati, its most well-known city. But life beyond Guwahati is far more complex and fragmented. This anthology journeys through cities, towns across the country, and remote villages, presenting voices, cultures, skills, and all things that make up the diverse state of Assam. It is a mosaic of fiction, non-fiction, essays, poems, embroidery, paintings, and visual storytelling—each piece reflecting the lived experiences of women and queer individuals navigating layered identities and social pressures.

The theme of identity flows like a river throughout the book—fluid, sometimes turbulent, yet always present. Each contributor reflects on what it means to be Assamese today, particularly when one’s gender, sexuality, class, or life choices challenge societal norms. It touches upon every aspect that disrupts a woman’s life such as patriarchy, caste, community, religion, child abuse, menstruation, early marriage, friendships, ostracisation, most of all freedom to be you and you alone.

In under 240 pages, editor Banamallika curates a world that jolts, stirs, and forces you to carve out a new perspective. These are stories that make you ponder the futility of power structures, the joy found in small things, the longing for distant dreams, and the heartbreak of lost aspirations. Each narrative centers a woman or a disabled young girl or queer protagonist and their specific realities—some steeped in tradition, others striving to break away.

Take Pungbili by Maitreyee Boruah—a story of a girl who loved to run, once the fastest in her village, who later became a city security guard and tragically lost her life in the street wrecked by flood. Or The Dirge Singer by Sermily Ternagpi, where Sami’s haunting voice earns reverence only in grief, her songs escorting souls from this world, while poverty remains her inescapable companion.

Among the stories that hit me hard are Manowara’s Library by Rashida Tapadar and The Red File by Nasmin Choudhury. The former speaks to the power of language, literacy, knowledge to rise, while the latter poignantly revisits how handwritten documents—once entrusted to elders—were made invisible in the digital age, only to return with a vengeance during the NRC (National Register of Citizens) verification drive.

Riverside Stories is more than an anthology. It showcases the resilience of people who have been swept by change, who are unable to express how deeply they are embedded in their soft culture and roots. The writing ranges from poetic to piercing, reflective to raw. There is no singular tone—because there is no singular way to be Assamese, or female, or queer, or marginalized.

This is an unflinchingly honest, beautifully illustrated collection that offers readers an intimate look into Assam’s layered landscape. Pick it up for the beautifully designed cover by Nori Norbhu and illustrations by Banamallika and Fizala Tayebulla.

For those who value inclusive storytelling, cultural depth, and the unyielding power of human voices—Riverside Stories should be your next read.

Book Details
Publisher: Zuban Books
Price: INR 595
Hardcover: 238 pages
Language: English
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