The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry is a testament to the power of think global, write
local.
All 85 contemporary poets
selected by the editor, Sudeep Sen, are Indians who write in English. They live
in India and across the world, and write about everything under the sun in a
variety of traditional forms and free verse.
Sen, a poet with serious
anthology credentials, took the bold step of selecting mostly new work; more
than 90 percent of the poems are unpublished. So it’s a terrific snapshot of
the vibrancy of English poets in India and the diaspora.
Other features also break
the expected in refreshing ways. The poets are listed alphabetically by first
name “so that there is a further sense of intimacy and a community-feel among
fellow poets,” Sen states in the well-written, six-page introduction.
Many of the poets are new
to me, so I can’t lament greatest hits that might be missing. However, readers
can get a good feel for each poet because generally there are at least four
pages of poems and a few considerably more. (I can’t argue that Sen should
include himself; however, 15 pages seems excessive.)
Many of the poets have had
long careers: Amit Chaudhuri, Arundhathi Subramaniam, David
Dabydeen, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Vijay Seshadri, Vikram
Seth. Some only have one book or chapbook, such as Sridala Swami and
Siddhartha Bose, whose playwright and performer credentials are far longer.
What all the poets share is
a confidence with English as one of India's 26 official languages. All included are born after 1950 when India became a republic and the world’s largest democracy.
At 541 pages, the anthology has heft and
heart and lots of experimentation with formal forms as well as free verse. “You’re likely to encounter a pantoum
next to an acrostic poem, a triolet juxtaposed against a ghazal, lyric
narratives, Sapphic fragments, Bhartrhari-style shataka, sonnet, rubai, prayer
chants, rap, reggae, creole, haiku, tanka,” the introduction promises and
delivers.
Sen also
backs up his observation that “The subject matter is staggeringly large. There
is introspection and gregariousness, politics and pedagogy, history, science,
illness, fantasy, love, erotica, sex and death.”
He isn’t
shy about promoting Indian English poetry, that’s for sure. “I would
provocatively assert that the best English poetry written by Indians in the
contemporary national and international literary arena is perhaps as good — or
superior — to Indian fiction in English as a whole.”
A pointless, if provocative claim, I would argue. But I would second Sen’s conclusion
that “Indian poets are in full flight” and thank him for making it so easy to
read so many.
Tomorrow: a Q&A with Sudeep Sen.
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I couldn’t find an online source to purchase the anthology with shipping outside of India, including www.harpercollins.co.in. (Readers, please comment below if you know a source.)
I also recommend Sen's selections at Prairie Schooner Feast Anthology of Poetry by Indian Women, available online.
And a call for submissions. Editors Charles Fishman and Smita Sahay are seeking published and unpublished poems or translations in English on rape and other forms of violence and oppression directed at women in our time for Veils, Halos and Shackles, an anthology of Indo-American poetry. Learn more here.