A journal for ordinary creatives
Maru Mori is a Japanese word, or rather a phrase, since it is two words. It means the heartbreaking simplicity of ordinary things, as shared in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. We do not find Maru Mori to evoke only sorrow. For us, Maru Mori also evokes play. The ordinary can be playful. Play can be sorrowful. And sorrows can be playful, especially when they become ordinary. Phew!
We liked Maru Mori for our name because its meaning is full of ordinary possibilities - to explore the everyday, the mundane, the fleeting and the static. The playfulness of its tonality, of how it rolls off our tongues, added to its appeal. Did we mention that Maru Mori is a creative non-fiction journal? Or did we just go on about the name we chose? I suppose we did go on a short bit, only because we want you to know what compelled us to begin yet another journal in the "mara mari" (as Stuti says) already out there.
At Maru Mori, we solicit pieces that make sense of our ordinary, everyday existence. We want the journal to be for ordinary creatives who are open to new forms of meaning-making and world-making. This, we believe, is crucial in a fraught, rapidly changing, often heartbreaking world.
We look forward to your ramblings, jottings, doodles, hummings, and murmurs about the heartbreaking simplicity of ordinary things. Maru Mori.
-Vrinda
Open Call
For our inaugural issue, we are soliciting contributions around the theme of “Living with/in Tech”. We ask how technology becomes ordinary, as it becomes a part of our everyday life, and how AI reshapes this familiarity.
Team
Vrinda Chopra
Vrinda Chopra is a scholar and essayist who works at the intersection of space/place, self-hood and social change. She is interested in re-reading and re-writing stories of social change across the formal and informal economy in the Global South, to imagine a world otherwise. Her work has been published in academic journals and literary publications.
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Vrinda conceptualised and edits Maru Mori.
Stuti Sareen
Stuti Sareen is the founder of Mysticeti. She works with writers, artists, and children across creative projects, journals, and learning initiatives.
Stuti curates and edits Maru Mori.
Tejal Sharan
Tejal Sharan is interested in interdisciplinary approaches to learning, research, and creative exploration.
Tejal designed the brand identity for Maru Mori.