Jamil Jan Kochai reads his story “The Twice-Widowed Khala Helai,” from the June 8, 2026, issue of the magazine. Kochai is the author of the novel “99 Nights in Logar” and the story collection “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2022 and won the 2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize.

Andrea Bajani reads his story “Constellation,” which was translated, from the Italian, by Geoffrey Brock, and appeared in the June 15, 2026, issue of the magazine. Bajani is a winner of the Bagutta Prize and the Strega Prize, among other awards, and the author of ten books of fiction, including “If You Kept a Record of Sins” and “Every Promise.” His most recent novel, “The Anniversary,” from which this story was adapted, is being translated into more than two dozen languages, and will be published in English in August.