Interview with Author Abhijat Malviya

Our Spring 2026 Issue includes two pieces that harness elements of cosmic horror to deliver emotionality and impact. Abhijat Malviya's story "Egregoros" explores concepts of legendary terror at sea, showing the author's evident thalassophobia in striking prose. It's not easy to go beyond what's already in the canon with cosmic horror, and Abhijat's piece is a good example of embracing the existing literary tradition while writing it into a different setting and narrative rhythm. Read on to hear a short chat with the author below!

What makes you keep writing, even when it's hard?

It’s incredibly fun being able to materialize things into words which were only in my head until I wrote them down. I still find this one trite little thing very hard to believe.

Advice on creating that you’ve learned by trial and error.

A suboptimal first draft can be endlessly improved.

Planes, trains, boats, or automobiles?

Boats.

What is your writing strategy? Do you write every day with a rigid schedule, or are you more flexible with your practice?

I write only on weekends and rarely very early in the mornings when I get time outside of work. The plus side is that I get ideas throughout the week and get to play with them by the time I get to writing a few days later.

Do you think about your reader?

Yes, I’m very conscious of a hypothetical erudite reader tutting at my stories.

Are you good at taking tests?

No. Tests are inhuman.

Most triumphant thing you did as a teenager?

I once wrote a stunningly bad poem that was published in a newspaper. I don’t have the poem or the newspaper now, it was just really bad.

What was the inspiration for your story?

I’ve suffered from thalassophobia since a very young age, and writing the story was sort of cathartic.

How do you combat loneliness?

I think it’s a very nice thing when you can find it, certainly nothing to combat.

Abhijat Malviya has recently begun writing fiction and nonfiction. Other than writing, he enjoys reading historical nonfiction and cycling through the same few sitcoms over and over. Some of his writing can be found at https://abhijat0.substack.com/.