Interior

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Exterior

[ essay club ]

An invitation to practise curiosity
with and through essays. 

Interior

Exterior

[ essay club ]

An invitation to practise curiosity with and through essays.

Interior

Exterior

[ essay club ]

An invitation to practise curiosity with and through essays.

Interior

Exterior

[ essay club ]

An invitation to practise curiosity with and through essays.

Interior-Exterior Community

We read an essay every month, slowly and together.

Why the essay?

The essay is a very generous form. It is the form that makes space for all the ways in which we think, feel, make sense of the world. It can hold uncertainty, contradictions, shaping of a feeling as it is being shaped. The essay is where the I and the we are in constant conversation. I believe these are capacities worth protecting, and paying close attention to essays is one way of tending to them.

Essay(s) of the month

A carefully chosen piece is sent to you to read. At the end of the month, you also receive Ankita’s annotated notes as a pdf.

Monthly slow reading & deep-dive

A 90-minute online session with Ankita devoted to a single essay. The first 30-40 minutes are set aside for everyone to read the essay slowly. The rest of the session, Ankita presents various observations. Each month, we explore different dimensions: themes, style and voice, rhythm and metaphor, research, humour, and more.

Your membership includes:

₹3000

/ year

₹500

/ month

Everything stays with you

At the end of each month, you'll receive the recording of the deep dive, any guest conversation from that month, the annotated essay PDF, and the write-along prompt—everything you need to revisit the month's exploration in your own time.

Guest sessions

Throughout the year, writers, essayists, editors, and thinkers join the community to talk about essays that have shaped them and the ways they read, write, and think through the form. Confirmed guests include Sumana Roy, Ranjit Hoskote, Rega Jha.

Monthly write-along

A 60-minute writing session inspired by the month's essay. Ankita shares a prompt and for the next 50 minutes, everyone writes in response to the prompt. Designed more as a thinking–observing practice rather than a creative writing exercise. The last few minutes are set aside for anyone who’d like to share a few lines.

Upcoming Speakers

Speaker's Name

One Line About Them

Speaker's Name

One Line About Them

Speaker's Name

One Line About Them

Speaker's Name

One Line About Them

About Ankita

Ankita Shah is an Indian-Nepali writer whose poetry and essays are a curious exploration of what it means to be human. She publishes her work on Life, Annotated on Substack. Over the last year, she has been teaching the essay form through her workshops. Her writing has appeared in Anomaly, Soup Magazine, Firstpost, and Vogue.

In 2013, she co-founded The Poetry Club, which fostered both a writing practice and an understanding of craft through monthly sessions, growing into a community of over 7,000 poets writing in English and Hindustani. Interior-Exterior is built from the same spirit and belief—to gather around a metaphorical fire with the willingness to feel something.

Testimonials

The workshop brought me in touch with a latent part of me that really needed to breathe and be seen by me. It is clear to me now that without writing, I might go mad. I was going mad and the workshop helped me channel my madness into words that brought relief and delight. Even if I never finish or ever publish what I write, it's ok. Writing, and the workshop, would have still rescued me.

Priyanka Jain

The workshop brought me in touch with a latent part of me that really needed to breathe and be seen by me. It is clear to me now that without writing, I might go mad. I was going mad and the workshop helped me channel my madness into words that brought relief and delight. Even if I never finish or ever publish what I write, it's ok. Writing, and the workshop, would have still rescued me.

Priyanka Jain

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be a writer to join?

No. This is for anyone curious about the world and willing to engage with the essay as a means to experience, examine, and understand it. Writing along is part of it, but it's practised here as a way of thinking and so, is really open to anyone. 

There’s no difference in the offering. You get all the same things either way. The monthly option offers the ease of paying in monthly installments, whereas the annual option, because you’re paying upfront, offers a 50% discount. Choose what works best for you!

Membership gives you access to everything released during your membership period. Your start date is the date you subscribe, and you'll receive all essays, notes, recordings, and other material released until your billing cycle ends. Material from before your membership period is not included.

Yes! Payments are accepted in multiple currencies, and you can pay using a range of methods, including cards and PayPal.

You will be added to a mailing list where you will receive all the material to read, the invites to the sessions, and their subsequent recordings. We're also building a central home for the community on this website, and we'll keep you updated as it develops.

Deep-dives and guest sessions are recorded (unless otherwise specified or request by the guest writer), and you’ll receive the recordings after the session. You also receive annotated notes on the essay of the month and the prompt we wrote on. Rest assured, you’ll always have the material to read, write, engage with the chosen literature that month at your own pace.

Ankita chooses the essay each month, unless we have a guest writer that month—in which case they choose it, often one of their own essays or a piece that shaped them.

Never mandatory. A few minutes are set aside at the end of the write-along session for anyone who wants to read a line or two out loud, and this is completely voluntary.

No. If you would like Ankita to review your writing or guide your writing practice, you can sign up for a one-to-one consultation.

Yes, absolutely! While registering, just put in the details of the person you’re gifting it to, and they'llreceive all membership emails and materials.

Yes. You can cancel your membership at any time, though we'd love to know what prompted your decision on the feedback form you’ll receive. You'll continue to receive all membership benefits until the end of your current billing cycle.

No—it's shared with you as a pdf or link, so you incur no separate cost. Ofcourse, beyond the assigned essay, Ankita and the guest writers will regularly share book and essay recommendations and we will try to provide you the links to access / purchase that 🙂