Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship
By Fatima Ijaz and Taha Kehar
Liberty Publishing
ISBN: 978-627-7626-61-7
194pp.

Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship is a collection of 48 emails — or letters, as they are referred to in the book — between Fatima Ijaz, who is based in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Taha Kehar, who lives in Karachi.

The letters were written over a span of five weeks, from August 16, 2024, to September 20, 2024, by the duo, who are accomplished writers in their own way. Ijaz is a poet, essayist and short story writer, whose works include The Shade of Longing (2021), a poetry collection, and the chapbook Last of the Letters (2024), while Kehar is a novelist, editor and journalist, whose novels include No Funeral for Nazia (2023) and Typically Tanya (2018).

Writers Fatima Ijaz and Taha Kehar’s email correspondence with each other about a range of topics evokes a time long before email and provides a controlled look into the lives of its writers

In this age of reels, AI, WhatsApp, short-form content and diminishing attention spans, one of the things that struck me about Story Circle immediately was the length of the letters — they are pretty long and tend to ramble at times. Kehar is perhaps aware of this as he states, “Writing these letters is therapeutic… however, I must apologise for the length of my letters. The novelist in me is difficult to tame.”

However, they are a refreshing read and would be of interest to anyone passionate about books, as many of the conversations between the two focus on the writing process as well as novels by writers such as Aamer Hussein, Anita Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri, Orhan Pamuk and Manal Shakir, among many others. (The book also includes a recommended reading section at the end.)

Initially, the letters centre on Ijaz and Kehar’s musings on how they perceive themselves to be different from people who are not writers and what drew them to the craft.

Kehar pontificates: “As writers, we were able to understand the quiet workings of each other’s minds. With lesser mortals (how condescending does that sound?), we have to undergo a rite of passage, whereby we feel the compulsion to explain our conduct amid recriminations. Writers seem to comprehend each other’s creative and intellectual needs. It’s rare for them to find friends and partners who recognise this aspect of their lives.”

He explains that these letters are separate from the conversations the couple has in person or via WhatsApp, and that they “invoke” their inner writers. This perhaps explains why this epistolary volume is largely devoid of the daily occurrences that people experience and usually share with each other on email, and the overall tone of the book tends to be reflective and long-winded.

Ijaz, on her part, states, “At the beginning, writing for me was closely associated with being in love. The real initiation into poetic prose and then later free verse poetry happened at the heightened onset of love.”

As the book progresses, we learn various things about the writers. Kehar is a self-appointed introvert who has a habit of being with partners who are not writers and has been through a series of unsuccessful relationships; he continues to mourn the loss of his mother and confesses that he feels haunted by “a self-created prophecy of doom: someone genuinely wants to sabotage my happiness. Whenever I’m inching towards some glorious milestone, my life goes up in flames. It’s terrifying.”

Meanwhile, Ijaz is married and has an interest in Native American culture, having been exposed to its ideology in Oneonta, New York State, where she studied, which has led her to “take time out for nature.” In comparison to Kehar, she does not reveal as much of her personal life or feelings explicitly, although some things about her do surface as the book progresses — such as the fact that she conducts tarot readings or that she had a tumultuous relationship with faith. At one point, though, she steps out of character and says, “Today is a sad day for some reason.”

The conversations between the two move on from all things literary to discussions on other subjects, be it dreams, religion, music or movies, among others; they also talk about their friendships with other people — some named, some unnamed — and of the challenges they may pose, bringing a set of new characters to the fore in the process.

As I read on, one thing that struck me was that the writing styles of Ijaz and Kehar are not very different; in fact, when I started reading the book, I struggled a little to remember who was writing a particular letter and had to glance at the top of the page, which mentioned who the writer and recipient were of the letter in question, as this is how the book has been designed — in an email format.

Speaking of the book’s design, it could have been better; in addition to the writer and recipient at the top, as mentioned earlier, the bottom of the page has a toolbar reminiscent of an email software, which really does not do much to add any value. Perhaps what could have been done was to use two different fonts to differentiate the writers; this, in addition to replacing article links with QR codes, could have enhanced both readability and engagement.

A strong aspect of the book is the inclusion of the writers’ works, whether they are evocative poems or imaginative narratives and short stories, which not only provide a glimpse into their writing and showcase their versatility, but also offer a break from the letters.

Ultimately, Story Circle is a look into the lives of its writers and reads well, although one could argue that it is somewhat self-indulgent and occasionally pretentious. While the letters evoke a time long before email — being long, flowing and introspective — they sometimes feel rehearsed.

Kehar is clearly aware of such criticisms, as he writes towards the end of the book: “Cynics would happily assert that these letters are of limited value to anyone apart from the two of us. Others might criticise us for writing these notes in a ‘controlled setting.’ I can imagine them commenting on how pretentious these notes sound, possibly because we are conscious of the reader’s quiet, yet overpowering presence. I don’t think such sceptics will understand how important it is to have an outlet to voice an opinion without any fetters. Not everyone possesses this gift of freedom.”

However, when one reads the authors’ other non-fiction works, it becomes evident that the tone of the letters is consistent with their writing styles: measured, reflective and far from the quippy, contemporary nature of most emails. This lends the book a distinctive old-world charm.

What would have lent some context to this book would be a more detailed explanation as to how the idea of this creative exercise came about and what the authors hoped to achieve from it. While the latter is explained implicitly throughout the book, the former is not.

But, then again, perhaps the writers intended to remain mysterious, or perhaps they wanted readers to draw their own conclusions. For me personally, the book made me want to participate in a similar exercise.

The reviewer is a member of staff. X: @mamunadil

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, November 23rd, 2025