Knowing What Not to Leave In: an Interview with Ori Akasara

We published Ori Akasara's "polyglass sunroof" in our Fall 2026 issue, a fever dream of a story involving body horror, capitalism, and a uniquely scary kind of AI. In this brief interview, Akasara discusses his writing plans, favorite and influential texts, and some unusual writing aides.

Do you write by hand or at the keyboard? Why do you prefer one or the other?

I like writing by hand more, but alas the keyboard is more efficient. I think towards the early stages of a draft or treatment, I can think better with pen and paper. But there's a point where you build up a lot of steam and then the pen’s too slow and outlay. So I'd say I'm a child of both.

Is there a genre or style of writing you haven’t tried, but want to someday?

I'd like to be able to do a weird alt history of a coastal city, but I've never gotten around to the amount of research it'll take. Someday, hopefully.

What is weird?

I like one of the many answers to this that China Mieville has given before. It's an essay of his in an edited collection called Collapse IV I think, and it contrasts the idea of the Weird with the idea of the “hauntological”, and I think that's a great way to think about it.

Do you plan on writing a novel, or have you started and/or completed one?

Yeah I plan on it. For me the short story format is much harder to work on. It requires knowing what not to leave in, which I've often struggled with in the past.

Why write?

I've been told that I talk a lot. If I don't write, I'll drive everyone in my life crazy. 

What's your favorite underappreciated novel or short story?

The Notebook by Ágota Kristóf. It's a WW2 story, and the first of a trilogy. I don't think it's received the appreciation it deserves. I read it as a teenager and I think it was the first time that I realised the scale of the freedom that a writer can enjoy within their text.

Best unlikely piece of advice you’ve received that’s helped you continue writing?

Unlikely would be a friend telling me to surround myself with totem objects: pens and fonts, mostly, perhaps a typewriter someday. It's not exactly superstitious, but more like an attempt at allowing these objects to maybe pull a story out of you. And I've found that it works very well for me.

What is a word or phrase you find yourself using too much?

“Machinations.” I have absolutely no idea why.

Favorite book title?

It's not a book but a poem titled "All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan. I encountered it as the title of a documentary by Adam Curtis about Ayn Rand and the tentacles she spread (beyond death) into the corners of Silicon Valley, among other stuff.

Ori Akasara is a writer and teacher living in Bombay, India. He’s new to the New Weird and all its old and fossilised charms. He likes to read, and attempts to write, speculative and soft science fiction, particularly of the cyberpunk (or steampunk, or biopunk, any other -punk, really) kind.