Poached eggs, flittering sparrows, a tiny Buddha, and mysterious words coexist lusciously in this playful Epidemic of Nostalgia by Sujash Purna.

Flexible language reminds us of the magic we daily dwell in…”We knew life was going to be short” or, to a grandfather, “…you and I are the same body, just one earth away” — luminous truths rising through time blurs, rich blends of appealing images. An utterly delicious, original voice speaks here – welcome this wonder!

Sujash Purna is a Bangladeshi poet and photographer based in Madison, Wisconsin. A first-year PhD fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is the author of “Biriyani” (Poet’s Haven) and "Epidemic of Nostalgia'' (Finishing Line Press). His poetry has appeared in California State Poetry Quarterly, Reed Magazine, South Carolina Review, Hawai`i Pacific Review, Kansas City Voices, Poetry Salzburg Review, Gutter, Stonecoast Review, and others. A 2022 Anaphora Residency Fellow and Moon City Review Creative Nonfiction Award Winner, Sujash is the poetry editor for Pyre Magazine. His “Azans for the Infidel” and “Simple Fantasies” are forthcoming from Mouthfeel Press’s CLASH! Books and Finishing Line Press in 2023. His photography piece “Enamored with the Unknown” is forthcoming in the Ilanot Review. Sujash and his photography can be found on Instagram @poeticnomadic

Nisha Atalie is a poet from the Pacific Northwest. Her poetic and scholarly work investigates the intersections of ecology, race, and colonialism. Her poems have been published in CALYX, Blood Orange Review, Poem-a-Day, and elsewhere. She is currently a doctoral student in literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Livestream: Sujash Purna and Nisha Atalie