Following on from my conversation with poet, humanitarian and Afghan women’s rights advocate Shikha S Lamba that was published this week in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, I wrote a short news piece for BUZZ on Shikha’s latest initiatives and how you can help! Thanks to BUZZ editor Robin Bradbeer for publishing.

https://hongkongbuzz.hk/2026/09/from-poetry-to-action-shikha-s-lamba-lights-the-way

You can read our conversation in Cha, Challenging the Patriarchy with Poetry & Prose here: https://chajournal.com/2026/09/19/shikha-s-lamba

The second of my conversations with writers and artists to be published in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal last weekend was with irrepressible Afghan women’s rights advocate and poet Shikha S Lamba. She recently curated a powerful poetry collection to raise the voices of Afghan women in collaboration with The Candyman’s Trumpet.

Shikha credits Afghan-American author Nadia Hashimi (who recently braved my Writer’s Gauntlet) as the source of her literary inspiration. Thanks to Cha’s wondrous editor-in-chief Tammy Lai-Ming Ho for the double coverage!

https://chajournal.com/2026/09/19/shikha-s-lamba

https://chajournal.com/category/sadie-kaye

For the past few weeks I’ve been working with poet Shikha S. Lamba on a conversation piece we hope will find a home soon! The conversation explores her journey as a poet and Afghan women’s rights advocate. The poetry collection she curated that inspired the conversation has just been published in The Candyman’s Trumpet. The striking artwork is by Zuhra Nadem. It can also be read on Mental Ideas here:

 https://mentalideas.org/2026/08/10/shikha-lamba-poetry-for-afghanistan/