The Mask. A word that has become synonymous to safe existence, doesn't need any introduction, given that it has become a requisite accessory of this era witnessing a pandemic. Moreover, even before COVID had disrupted lives, the word ‘mask’ has been a poignant theatre jargon. Words like masque and masquerade have been in vogue since the 16th and 17th centuries when masked actors would perform on stage. The mask is also used to depict concealment, camouflage and cover. Detectives slithered through crime scenes in their masks, as did the spy of war and lovers in ballroom. Mask has been used socially, colloquially and in art, to express supressed, uninformed and/or dual identity. In fiction and nonfiction, the mask found expression through crime, mystery, horror, relationship drama and psycho analytical storytelling, among others. POETS/AUTHORS : Ruma Chakraborty Pragya Bajpai Antara Roy Bhattacharjee Sumaa Tekur MoonMoon Chowdhury Dev Nath Pathak Sarveswari Saikrishna Priyanka Gupta Zielinski Ramya Srinivasan Hermit Pen Kamalini Natesan Shiva Mittal Aarav Roy Souvik Dutta Preetha Vasan Mita Banerjee Priya Rajaram Kiara Welde INTERVIEWS OF : Tony J. Selimi Shayamal Vallabhjee Ambi Parameswaram Saiswaroopa Iyer Saikat Majumdar James Barilla Dev Nath Pathak Urmi Bhattacheryya Priyanka Gupta Zielinski Neil D'Silva Amanthi Harris Sunanda Mehta Himanjali Sankar Dennis Broe