Books

Sanchita was a prolific writer. She wrote about mental health, politics, social issues and motherhood. In addition to writing a blog she regularly contributed for the Huffington Post. She published 11 books that can be read by clicking on the titles below.
The Tree People (2021)
Millions of years ago, the Tree World was tended and nurtured by the Tree People, until one day, two dragons decided to destroy this glorious land. Who is going to win this fight to save the trees…?. Inspired by the climate crisis, The Tree People was Sanchita Islam’s first and only children’s book. The book is filled with pages and pages of amazing, intricate art.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Schizophrenics can be good mothers too (2015)
Written under the pseudonym Q.S.Lam, the book deals with Sanchita's psychosis and postpartum psychosis and her struggle to get the care she needed. It also explores how she used art to keep well and logic to dispel the horrendous visions that she was experiencing. She said she wrote the book to help other mothers and mental health care practitioners by spread awareness and dispel the stigma attached to mental fragility. Published by Muswell Hill Press.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Connecting kids (2007)
Connecting Kids was funded by the British Council in Indonesia and Malaysia. The book connects the lives of street kid musicians, slum kids and disadvantaged kids living on local estates through this publication, a photography project, and four films shot in Bangladesh, London, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. There is a film that accompanies this book of the same name. Published by Chipmunka Publishing.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Avenues (2007)
Avenues is a book that follows the stories of Bengali and Somali kids living in the Brick Lane area and explores the relationship between the two groups, There is a film that accompanies the book that was shot with the co-operation of the participating kids at Christ Church and New Avenues (now both defunct) with the special assistance of Derek Cox, a youth worker in the area for the last thirty years. Published by Chipmunka Publishing.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Hidden (2005)
This book documents the stories of four women who had fled from domestic abuse and had been taken in by the Tower Hamlets Asian Women’s Aid refuge. The women opened up their lives to Sanchita and allowed her to photograph and draw them inside their rooms at the refuge. Sanchita made a film to accompany the book. 
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.​​​​​​​
Old meets young (2004)
St Hilda’s, in London, is a centre where Bangladeshi elders gather each day. Many of them are wheel chair bound and suffer from varying degrees of illness. They represent the first generation of Bangladeshis that came over to Britain in the late 50’s and 60’s harbouring dreams of a better life. This book is a combination of stories, thoughts, impressions and observations from Sanchita's time with the elders at the centre. Sanchita made a film to accompany the book. This publication was made possible by a grant from the Arts Council
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Eternal pollution of a dented mind (2008)
About this book, Sanchita wrote: "I am not a poet. I just write. These pieces are a collection of my musings, and it is the first time that I am publishing my writing without drawings, photos or paintings to accompany the words. This is very scary since I see myself primarily as a visual artist, but these pieces are about the soul, life, rubbish, beauty, love, hate, mental confusion, light and darkness. You might wonder if they are autobiographical, but I will remain mute regarding that detail since I have a fervent imagination and what is truth anyway?". Published by Chipmunka Publishing.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Dented (2017)
Poems and prose written between 2007 and 2009 - the latter being the year of Sanchita's first
psychotic episode.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
Gungi Blues (2008)
Gungi Blues chronicles the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional Bangladeshi family growing up in Manchester. The main character Mina, who after being widowed at 25 with three little girls, remarries and embarks on a journey that leads to self-discovery and final self-acceptance. It is only by re-visiting the country of her birth, the country she escaped, that she reaches this epiphany. Published by Chipmunka Publishing.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
From Briarwood to Barishal to Bricklane (2002)
Funded by London Arts and the Tower Hamlets Film Fund, this anthology comprises the writing of Bangladeshis living in London, New York and Bangladesh. The idea is to bring their voices together in answering the question of "Where is home?". The book also features Sanchita’s photographs, paintings and drawings, executed during her travels. Sanchita made three films to accompany the book.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
The cloud catcher (2006)
Sophie is one of Sanchita’s characters that inhabits her head. Sophie wants to live in the sky and catch clouds. The idea of the book was to create a fifty line piece of text accompanied by 50 drawings, the book slightly deviates from this model but it is Sanchita’s first fantasy landscape book. The book contains brain drawings that try to depict a map of the mind, a parallel universe that Sanchita believes exists somewhere out there. Published by Chipmunka Publishing.
Click on the image for a flipbook version of the book.
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