How were the stories selected?
We sent out an open call for submissions to queer lists, literary groups and blogs in India and the South Asian diaspora globally. Other than India, we were able to reach out to groups and individuals from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka that engage with queer rights, writings and art. We also invited published authors and artists to contribute. Through the process of selection, we had the support of Shalini Krishan, the editor at Tranquebar.

What criteria did you follow while editing the pieces?
We wanted the stories to expand traditional notions of sex. Stories that explored realities beyond the normative expectations of sex were given priority. For example, you will find stories here that take sex out of the private and into public spaces, stories that are between more than just two people, stories that blur consent and stories that complicate gender and desire itself. We have tried to be as diverse as possible in representing lesbian, bisexual, gay, trans and queer lives. We wanted to include stories that were from regions in South Asia other than India. We did not choose stories simply because they were explicit but chose those that were able to elicit a range of emotions that the sexual can elicit. So the criteria with which stories were chosen included diversity of sexuality and genders, regional representation, emotional content and non-normativity.