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It Waits
Step into post-independence India with 'It Waits', a chilling graphic horror novella where reality blurs and ancient horrors linger. Drawn to a sinister cabinet holding objects from forgotten realms, the protagonist confronts whispers, shadows, and an inevitable fate. Penned and illustrated by Varsha Panikar, It Waits explores themes of identity, isolation, and the haunting weight of history. With haunting visuals and evocative storytelling, this novella is perfect for fans of atmospheric psychological horror and dark folklore.
Each purchase includes a mysterious keepsake tied to the story—and two exclusive postcards, making this a must-have for collectors and fans alike.
Author and Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
ISBN: 978-93-341-4511-3
Format: Zine
Pages: 48
Each purchase includes a mysterious keepsake tied to the story—and two exclusive postcards, making this a must-have for collectors and fans alike.
Author and Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
ISBN: 978-93-341-4511-3
Format: Zine
Pages: 48
Conundrums On The Brink Of Perception
'Conundrum on the Brink of Perception' is a collection of poetic musings and commentary that delve into themes of queerness, identity, social norms, intersectionality, climate crisis, and the human condition. Written by Varsha Panikar, it invites readers to celebrate contradictions and embrace curiosity as a radical act.
What does it mean to belong? Is hope rebellion or surrender? Where does visibility become vulnerability?
A raw, thought-provoking experience, this zine is a must-have for those who value zines as a bold medium of raw, unapologetic self-expression.
Author and Photographer: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
ISBN: 978-93-341-4511-3
Pages: 48
What does it mean to belong? Is hope rebellion or surrender? Where does visibility become vulnerability?
A raw, thought-provoking experience, this zine is a must-have for those who value zines as a bold medium of raw, unapologetic self-expression.
Author and Photographer: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
ISBN: 978-93-341-4511-3
Pages: 48
Letters To Luna - Volume 1
An anthology of poems written as heartfelt letters to the moon, exploring love, longing, and self-discovery.
A timeless ode to existence and the moon as a confidante, it speaks to dreamers, wanderers, and those seeking solace in the celestial.
Varsha Panikar blends cosmic musings with tender introspection, crafting a collection that feels both personal and universal—perfect for lovers of evocative poetry.
Author: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
ISBN: 978-93-6076-041-0
Format: Anthology of Poems
Pages: 60
A timeless ode to existence and the moon as a confidante, it speaks to dreamers, wanderers, and those seeking solace in the celestial.
Varsha Panikar blends cosmic musings with tender introspection, crafting a collection that feels both personal and universal—perfect for lovers of evocative poetry.
Author: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
ISBN: 978-93-6076-041-0
Format: Anthology of Poems
Pages: 60
Undress
A poetic exploration of vulnerability, intimacy, and self-revelation, weaving words and illustrations to examine the beauty and brutality of baring one’s soul. Written and illustrated by Varsha Panikar, it captures the tension between longing for connection and the fear of being truly seen.
Author & Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Pages: 24
Author & Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Pages: 24
A-Ra Chronicles (NFT Collection)
Ara Chronicles is a queer children's graphic novel (in-progress) and collectible NFT series, blending Indian folklore, fantasy, and magic realism to bring A-Ra to life in many unique forms.
Winner of the Chain Unchained: Mintathon grant from Goethe-Institut (Mumbai) and BeFantastic, and showcased at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2024, Ara Chronicles explores cultural heritage through illustrated narratives, etymology, and research—each collectible card unlocking a deeper journey into South Asian myth and storytelling.
Read more on:
www.arachronicles.com/
Varsha Panikar – Conceptualization, Research & Story Development
Letitia Mendes – Illustration & Animation
Asawari Jagushte – Creative Consultancy & Sound Design
Winner of the Chain Unchained: Mintathon grant from Goethe-Institut (Mumbai) and BeFantastic, and showcased at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2024, Ara Chronicles explores cultural heritage through illustrated narratives, etymology, and research—each collectible card unlocking a deeper journey into South Asian myth and storytelling.
Read more on:
www.arachronicles.com/
Varsha Panikar – Conceptualization, Research & Story Development
Letitia Mendes – Illustration & Animation
Asawari Jagushte – Creative Consultancy & Sound Design
Seeds
Seeds is a visual zine that delves into childhood myths and the stories we grow up believing. Through haunting imagery, it teases the quiet wonder and fear sparked by those little tales—like what might happen if they came true. A nostalgic yet eerie journey, perfect for fans of subtle, evocative horror.
Concept and Illustration: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Concept and Illustration: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
How To Write (Not Another Hero's) Journey
'How To Write (Not Another Hero's) Journey' is a satirical take on traditional storytelling, questioning the tropes of heroism and challenging linear narratives.
This zine reimagines the protagonist’s path with wit and depth, offering an alternative to the age-old hero’s journey. Perfect for fellow filmmaker and storytellers who crave stories that break conventions and celebrate nuance.
Author and Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Pages: 20
This zine reimagines the protagonist’s path with wit and depth, offering an alternative to the age-old hero’s journey. Perfect for fellow filmmaker and storytellers who crave stories that break conventions and celebrate nuance.
Author and Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Pages: 20
Textures
'Textures' is a photography zine that blurs the line between visual art and poetry, weaving stories through intricate patterns and evocative surfaces. Each frame captures a memory, inviting you to reflect on the unspoken narratives etched into everyday textures.
Creator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Creator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
The Diary of Alex Nobody (5th Feb 1987)
'The Diary of Alex Nobody' is a fan-fiction zine set in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, reimagined through the fragmented and nonlinear diary entries of Alex, a 26-year-old queer character.
Each release offers a piece of Alex's story, unraveling love, oppression, and resistance under Big Brother's gaze. Readers can collect and piece together the entries to uncover the full narrative, a daring act of defiance in itself.
Author & Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Mini Zine
Each release offers a piece of Alex's story, unraveling love, oppression, and resistance under Big Brother's gaze. Readers can collect and piece together the entries to uncover the full narrative, a daring act of defiance in itself.
Author & Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Mini Zine
Origami Folds
'Origami Folds' is an ongoing and evolving mixed-media-poetry series that explores curves and folds of the human body and uses it as a medium and metaphor for hopeless frailty and hardened impenetrability, from which emerges the themes of identity, dysphoria, the commodification of the body, and denial and loss of autonomy as conditions of globalised society and cultures through the lens of south-Asian, queer and marginalized bodies which are forever under critical scrutiny, objectification and dehumanising policing from both external and internal perspectives.
Within this stifling framework, the skin has separated from the body, both physically and metaphorically in the separation between skin and psyche. The skin here also represents time and wraps us up like cellophane wraps hard candy.
Within this stifling framework, the skin has separated from the body, both physically and metaphorically in the separation between skin and psyche. The skin here also represents time and wraps us up like cellophane wraps hard candy.
Who You Pointing At?
'Who You Pointing At?' is visual exploration of perception, judgment, and self-awareness, challenging the act of pointing fingers and the narratives we build around identity and accountability.
Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Illustrator: Varsha Panikar
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
My Body Is A Prison
A zine by Varsha Panikar from their ongoing mixed-media series, Origami Folds. The piece deals with depression, anxiety, and body dysphoria.
Available on Amazon Kindle and has been curated by Zine Club Chicago, New Paltz NYC Sojourner Truth Library and Grrrl Zine Fair.
Excerpts from the same series have also appeared in Marketplace Zine - 'Skin' and 'Lines' by Forbidden Verses; the 6th edition of Zine by The Rights Collective and South Asian Sisters Speak (SASS), titled 'Brown Bodies, the 5th edition of Nerve Zine, titled 'Self', and a queer poetry anthology by One Future Collective, titled 'Raza'.
Mail me to get a copy.
Available on Amazon Kindle and has been curated by Zine Club Chicago, New Paltz NYC Sojourner Truth Library and Grrrl Zine Fair.
Excerpts from the same series have also appeared in Marketplace Zine - 'Skin' and 'Lines' by Forbidden Verses; the 6th edition of Zine by The Rights Collective and South Asian Sisters Speak (SASS), titled 'Brown Bodies, the 5th edition of Nerve Zine, titled 'Self', and a queer poetry anthology by One Future Collective, titled 'Raza'.
Mail me to get a copy.
Whisperings To My Shadows
An introspective photo-poetry zine that navigates the duality of mental health—the tension between darkness and light, struggle and acceptance, fear and authenticity. Through poetry drawn from memories and dreams, the series aims to foster understanding and spark conversations around mental well-being.
First showcased at the Queer Future Archive Installation (March 2020), an Afterpartycollective exhibition at Riverside Theatres, Western Sydney, supported by Parra Artist Studio.
Sold Out.
First showcased at the Queer Future Archive Installation (March 2020), an Afterpartycollective exhibition at Riverside Theatres, Western Sydney, supported by Parra Artist Studio.
Sold Out.
Lines Of Resistance
'Lines of Resistance' is a zine by Varsha Panikar, blending poetry and prose to explore identity, resistance, and liberation. A response to the reminder that Pride is, and must remain, a protest, it challenges the erasure of radical roots in Pride marches. Confronting systemic oppression while celebrating defiance and solidarity, this zine is both a manifesto and a call to action, written with love and fury for a future where every voice matters.
Poet: Mx. Varsha Panikar (Alex)
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Sharing Rights: Free to photocopy, print, archive, pass on, or read aloud. If sold, proceeds should support a queer person in need or to a cause for queer liberation.
Poet: Mx. Varsha Panikar (Alex)
Publisher: Riot Ink Press
Format: Zine
Sharing Rights: Free to photocopy, print, archive, pass on, or read aloud. If sold, proceeds should support a queer person in need or to a cause for queer liberation.
'The Timeless Charm of a Chance Encounter
Returning to the themes of chance encounters, surreal connections, and serendipity, 'The Timeless Charm of a Chance Encounter' is a mixed-media series exploring the fleeting, but sometimes, memorable moments shared with total strangers.
In development.
In development.
When Home Won't Let You Stay
A photo essay on migrant porters of Shimla, popularly called 'Khans'.
End Of The Line
An anthology of poems and prose written during the lockdown of 2020, intended as a catharsis to cope with uncertainties, ambiguities, depression and grief.
A collection of emotions, thoughts and memories that needed a place to rest outside the world of grey matter. An attempt to verbalise the shattered mirror through which we occasionally catch glimpses of our world; one that reminds us of the inescapable end and the irrevocable frailty of life. A life that is not just flowery words of love and pain, but a deep cavern that has reached the end of time and continues until there is no more sun in the sky, no more water to crash on the shores, no more air to breathe but only release... from what we know or understand of this world.
A sentiment - all too familiar for those that survived, or are struggling to rise from the depths of the hopeless despair.
Ongoing.
A collection of emotions, thoughts and memories that needed a place to rest outside the world of grey matter. An attempt to verbalise the shattered mirror through which we occasionally catch glimpses of our world; one that reminds us of the inescapable end and the irrevocable frailty of life. A life that is not just flowery words of love and pain, but a deep cavern that has reached the end of time and continues until there is no more sun in the sky, no more water to crash on the shores, no more air to breathe but only release... from what we know or understand of this world.
A sentiment - all too familiar for those that survived, or are struggling to rise from the depths of the hopeless despair.
Ongoing.
Down The Family Tree
Part memoir, part biographical, part soliloquy, 'Down The Family Tree' reflects upon identity and loss that arises from grief, told through the medium of family photographs, recordings, archives, paintings, and memories.
Ongoing.
Ongoing.
Dream Diary
Born from years of sleepless nights and vivid, lucid dreams, Dream Diary is a collection of poetry, prose, and stories drawn from the strange and surreal landscapes of my subconscious. What began as scattered notes at 16—an attempt to hold onto fleeting visions—has evolved into a haunting and intimate series, exploring the eerie, the fantastical, and the deeply personal.
Published in The Dream Issue, a digital zine curated by The Local Colour Zine.
Ongoing.
Published in The Dream Issue, a digital zine curated by The Local Colour Zine.
Ongoing.
Forest Dreams
A gothic and mystical graphic novel about the journey of a young girl into a magical and ancient forest, inspired by fables, folklore, fairy-tales, myths, and dreams from south-India.
Ongoing.
Ongoing.
Bodies Of Desire
"Bodies Of Desire" is an ongoing anthology weaving together stories, memories, and epiphanies through prose, poetry, and multimedia expressions.
This series explores queer intimacy and desire as powerful tools for self-expression and a deeper understanding of identity, empathy, and queer love and kinship.
Excerpts from the series are featured in "Love Portions," an issue of Rogue by Ratio Auream Publishers, available on Amazon & Kindle. The artwork has been showcased at the "Queer Futures Archive" exhibition at Parramatta's Riverside Theater, Sydney, as part of the "Burn All The Books That Call You The Unknown" exhibit in 2020.
An audio-story from the series is published on Lonely Heart Club, created by Anuja Ghosalkar, for gender-positive & queer audio-erotica. "Bodies Of Desire" has also been adapted into an award-winning Poetryfilm, currently streaming on Nowness Asia, Nowness, and GirlsInFilms.
Ongoing.
This series explores queer intimacy and desire as powerful tools for self-expression and a deeper understanding of identity, empathy, and queer love and kinship.
Excerpts from the series are featured in "Love Portions," an issue of Rogue by Ratio Auream Publishers, available on Amazon & Kindle. The artwork has been showcased at the "Queer Futures Archive" exhibition at Parramatta's Riverside Theater, Sydney, as part of the "Burn All The Books That Call You The Unknown" exhibit in 2020.
An audio-story from the series is published on Lonely Heart Club, created by Anuja Ghosalkar, for gender-positive & queer audio-erotica. "Bodies Of Desire" has also been adapted into an award-winning Poetryfilm, currently streaming on Nowness Asia, Nowness, and GirlsInFilms.
Ongoing.
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