Issue no. 17

November 2025 - February 2026

contours

1 story every 3 weeks from mid-November until early February

Contours mark the outlines of perception and understanding, where meaning is emergent and shifting. Contours trace lines of connection and imagination, where boundaries push up against open space. In this issue, Fulya Pınar follows the mundane routines of migrant life in Turkey. Sandra W Rodríguez Castañeda searches Peru for a girl whose death she heard about years earlier. Fiona Murphy explores the contours of a new vocabulary from the internet age. Dilshanie Perera learns about land and loss in Bangladesh’s delta region.

Editor’s note

Grace H Zhou

The cover images for Contours are by Fulya Pınar

the line starts here, but it moves

Rumours move faster than files

Fulya Pınar

published on 12 November

Do you remember that girl?

I remember that girl who died from an abortion

Sandra W Rodríguez Castañeda

published on 3 December

The light between strangers

There’s a word that moves like a breath across the internet

Fiona Murphy

published on 24 December

How the world actually works

the roofs of homes were sheared off and went flying through the air

Dilshanie Perera

published on 4 February

Contours was curated by Grace H Zhou

The stories were edited by Orkideh Behrouzan, Eleni Kotsira, Jose Sherwood Gonzalez, Laura Moran, Fatima Raja and Grace H Zhou. The interviews were conducted by Eleni Kotsira, Rosa Sansone, Jose Sherwood Gonzalez and Grace H Zhou