The eighth issue of Lakeer Magazine is a special summer one – The Climate & Hunger Issue. It aims to converse with the problems of rising climate injustices, environmental inequalities, and the sheer destruction of social and ecological fabrics unfolding onto Pakistan. Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, especially after the devastating floods of 2022. Of course, the conversation often starts with how the country lost USD 40 billion. But what about the 1,700 lives lost? How does life go on when climate change not only occurs due to large disasters, but through man-made decisions, such as the construction of highways over ecological hubs, as Ali Baluch points out in his interview? Or how love for a city is made impossible, such as in Irta Usman’s short story, where Awais Bhai’s love for Lahore is fundamentally attacked by Lahore’s uninhabitable climate? The issue also brings in the matter of hunger – for agency, such as in Malaika Rai and Zainab Jokhio’s poems; for justice, as in Shadab Zeest Hashmi’s; for food, as in Mahin Wahlas’ poem. And often, we find that these concerns are overlapping. Violence done to the climate translates to violence done to people, who crave accountability for all the perpetrators in the chain of selfish decision-making.

We are immensely thankful to our numerous contributors, who brought us such a rich collection of fiction, essays, poetry, interviews, and art: To our authors and poets, Ali Akbar Natiq, Irta Usman, Syed Qamar Abbas Araji, Sakina Hassan, Muhammed Khuzaima Nizami, Wania Aijaz, Zuhaa Fayyaz Qureshi, Malaika Rai, Fatima Jafar, Eisha Tur Raazia, Mahin Wahla, Umayr Aamir, Shadab Zeest Hashmi, and Zainab Jokhio; to our interviewees, Ali Baluch, Iman Ahmed, and Dur e Aziz Amna; and finally, to our lively artists, Zehra Haider, Ayesha Shingruf, and Iman Ahmed. Last but not least, we are thankful to our team of editors and interns, without whom this issue would not have been possible.

We hope that this issue brings to you insightful perspectives on how to make sense of Pakistan’s climate emergency and all the anxieties related to it, from hunger to justice. And that it gives you a glimpse of those who are at the forefront of such change are witnessing their lives alter for the worse.

—Omair Danish