Not very far away from now, is the day when Delhi-based poets Akhil Katyal and Aditi Angiras will be feverishly poring over tomes of queer verse. Their task comes in the light of publishing giant HarperCollins India announcing that it is seeking submissions of poems written by queer persons — amateurs and seasoned hands — from the subcontinent, for a rare and first-of-its-kind anthology. Katyal and Angiras, who have been roped in to curate and edit this volume, are no strangers to the world of queer verse.

Time and again, through their own writings, they have deliberated over queerness and discussed — sometimes even at the cost of making audiences uncomfortable — the plight of being one. The excitement of bringing together voices such as theirs, from across South Asia is unparalleled, say the writers. "This is a big opportunity for us to decolonise what we think of queerness," says 30-year-old Angiras. "We have been exposed to experiences of being queer in poetry, but mostly, it's been through the lens of the West. This side of the conversation has never been heard," she adds.