Book Reviews Our society is increasingly global, and the era of Covid-19 is no different. We may forget our localities and the importance of community in consuming the news and internet media. One city, the domain of Mother Theresa, a holy city, is Kolkata. Three editors compact its poetic resources in The Kolkata Cadence, a new anthology edited by Jagari Mukherjee, Inam Hussain Mullick, and Anindita Bose (Hawakal, 2021). The anthology compiles twenty-five contemporary poets, and subjects range from rain, crime, and religion to subtler life experiences. Mullick writes in his introduction that “life does not cease to offer us the absurd, personal and political—the poet conquers.” The poetry of The Kolkata Cadence seeks to illuminate these dimensions of life while celebrating the original voices of the city’s scene. Bina Sarkar Ellias writes of Santiniketan’s red earth, “a red road rolls out, / astonished— / like Kali’s tongue.” In “Santiniketan II,” the city is “mourning the death of its renaissance.” These poems undercut the reality of the city dwelling. Santiniketan is a university city expanded by Tagore’s vision. These poems suggest the natural world dwelling within humankind’s spirit. The unexpected happens overnight when rain washes through as a poet’s delirium, suggesting the primal urges of nature are within the sway of the poet-shaman. In “Haiku,” by Naina Dey, reality assumes a different task. “Shards of reality pierce... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2021-06-09 11:23:36 UTC ]
They turned down Ulysses and Animal Farm, but still shaped 20th‑century literatureAll publishing houses have archives, but for anyone interested in 20th-century literature the archive of Faber & Faber is a fabled treasure house. This is the firm that was, as Toby Faber puts it, “midwife at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-06-20 11:00:08 UTC ]
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An indie publisher has been forced to find a new venue to launch its anti-Brexit poetry anthology Bollocks to Brexit: An Anthology of Poems and Short Fiction after the church where it was due to be held refused to host the event, citing issues with political balance. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-06-20 07:09:36 UTC ]
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Intan Paramaditha will be appearing alongside Syd Moore to discuss re-writing old stories and myths with a contemporary, feminist slant at the Essex Book Festival on 15 March 2019 at 19.00. Find out more and book tickets here. What’s exciting about Indonesian literature at the moment, and... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-02-21 11:15:36 UTC ]
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