Do Not Go to the Jungle - Shihabuddin Poithumkadavu (Translated by J. Devika)

A masterclass in "socio-horror" and surreal political critique. Explore fine, sophisticated, and deeply compassionate stories that dissect the hair-raising manipulations of power, available in English for the very first time.

In Do Not Go to the Jungle, one of Malayalam’s most prolific and celebrated contemporary fiction writers, Shihabuddin Poithumkadavu, makes his highly anticipated English-language debut. Translated seamlessly by the award-winning scholar J. Devika, this brilliant collection of short stories shifts elegantly between stark realism and the hauntingly surreal. Shihabuddin introduces readers to a unique genre of "socio-horror"—dissecting the hidden anxieties, vulnerabilities, and quiet rebellions of the disenfranchised who are forced to navigate the predatory structures of modern society.

The narratives within this collection are as diverse as they are unforgettable. A lonely nightwatchman at a remote sawmill attempts to forge a quiet bond with a lone fox. A mysterious woman steps off a night train into the town of Madampi, leaving a trail of withered, paralyzed lovers in her wake. In a striking historical reimagining, the great communist leader "AKG" accidentally steps into a general compartment of the Malabar Express, only to be horrified by the raw struggle of the masses. Elsewhere, a migrant laborer herds camels in the Gulf while reading aloud the pages of his PhD thesis, and a man declared dead from COVID-19 in Dubai is deported back to an India where ghosts are distinctly unwelcome.

Though macabre at times, Shihabuddin’s prose is ultimately infused with tender, heart-warming beauty. Drawing directly from his own rich, varied life experiences, his writing reminds us that even in the darkest, most unsavory corners of human existence, a flicker of light is never far away. This anthology is a milestone publication for lovers of contemporary regional translations, South Asian political satire, and world-class literary fiction.