Comments
by Jonah Raskin
If
it’s laughter you want, or tears, or truth, or beauty, there’s no finer book of
poetry than this one. A World Assembly of
Poets offers a superlative way to start the New Year and to carry readers
all through the next 12 months.
I confess, I have not read every single poem in A World Assembly of Poets, which has
just been published by Re-Markings.
That would take at least a week of concerted effort. After all, there are more
than 150 poems by more than 80 poets from more than 30 different countries,
including India, Pakistan, Russia, China, the U.S., Israel, Nigeria, Spain,
Singapore, Sweden and Scotland.Still, I have read enough of the work in A World Assembly of Poets that has been ably compiled by a team of
editors to know that this volume has the power to entertain, illuminate and
inspire readers from Asia and Africa to Europe and the Americas.
“I have no hesitation in saying that these soulful offerings
from the world’s best lyricists of the heart is a wonderful tribute to the
undying human spirit of freedom, dignity and hope,” chief editor Nibir K. Ghosh
writes in the “Editorial” at the front of the book.
Guest editor Tijan M. Sallah writes about specific poets such as
Liu Hongbin, Pritish Nandy and Per Wastberg in the introduction to the volume,
and offers overarching observations. “If American poetry is geared to the
individual and the particular, the poetry of Asia is dominated by spiritual
concerns,” Sallah writes.
Still, A World Assembly
of Poets makes it clear that generalizations about poetry can only take us
so far. At the beginning, at the end and in the middle of this volume, a reader
can only engage with specific poems by individual poets who insist on adhering
to their own hearts and heads and who pledge allegiance to their own
aesthetics. By chance I opened A World
Assembly of Poets to page 61 and
the work of Sallah himself, perhaps the best-known Gambian writing poetry today
who writes in “I Come From A Country,” lines that transcend national and
geographical boundaries: “I come from a country where the land is small,/ But
our hearts are big,/Where we greet everyone by name in the morning.”
I know this country. Perhaps you do, too. It’s the country of
big hearts that exists wherever there are poets with names like Sallah, Naheed,
Manhire, Fahey and Amjadi and whose work co-exists on the page. It is not
necessary to start on the first page and go straight through to the last page.
One can skip around and go forwards or backwards, until a poem grabs hold of
you and pulls you inside, as Arun Kamal’s “I’ll Tell Lives,” which is
translated from Hindi into English, did for me. Some of the poems, including
Haki R. Madhubuti’s “More Powerful Than God” are very funny, indeed. If it’s
laughter you want, or tears, or truth, or beauty, there’s no finer book of
poetry than this one. A World Assembly of
Poets offers a superlative way to start the New Year and to carry readers
all through the next 12 months. There
are more poems here from India than any other country in the world except for
the U.S.A. That is fitting. After all the book comes from Agra not from New
York, and with the unstinting cooperation of Dr. Sunita Rani Ghosh, Dr. A.
Karunaker, Mr. Sudarshan Kcherry and that master of computer graphics and
design, Mr. Sandeep Arora.
Jonah Raskin, a
frequent contributor to Re-Markings, is the author of 14 books, including
literary criticism, reporting, memoir, and biography. He has taught journalism,
media law and the theory of communication at Sonoma State University, U.S.A.
Comments by Ethelbert Miller
My friend Tijan Sallah dropped by the house today with copies of the new anthology he edited. What a wonderful collection of poems from poets around the world. From Brazil to Spain. Pakistan to Australia. China to Nigeria. The US poets included are: Sonia Sanchez, Kevin Powell, Rita Dove, Fred Chappell and David Ray. I’m happy for 4 of my poems to be in this book.
Congrats to Nibir Ghosh for making it all possible.
Visit: www.re-markings.com.
Ethelbert Miller is a writer and
literary activist. He is board chair of the Institute for Policy Studies, an
inductee of the 2015 Washington, DC Hall of Fame, and recipient of the AWP
2016 George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature.
Translations of Miller’s poems have appeared in over nine languages. His most
recent book is The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller.
Comments by Tuncay Gary
Dear Tijan & Nibir Ghosh,
I'm glad to be a part of the world expressed in this wonderful book. After all, it is an enormous suggestion to bundle poetry from all continents of this earth. I love to read this book. Starting with the editorial by Nibir K. Ghosh with a fantastic picture of Plato and his poetry criticism, the introduction of Tijan M. Sallah, who makes a foray into the continents and the individual countries, then stand by selected examples, the poetry of the poets for themselves allow. And another thing that makes this volume "A World Assembly of Poets" of the special edition of RE-MARKINGS clear: Poets may write in different languages of this world, but the statements, the inner essence, the mainspring itself, are very human.
Tuncay Gary is director, actor and author based in Berlin, Germany
Comments by Okey Ndibe
My brother Tijan,
Congrats for birthing such a marvelous book. I received the fantastic volume two nights
ago. I’d meant to call you to say thank you for including me in such exalted
poetic company. In a world often ruled by demagogues and drawn to
philistinism, it’s a treasure to find some of the world’s best poetic voices
collected in this extraordinary book. This anthology is a rich harvest, bound
to excite devotees of poetry—and to attract many others who, before now, were
indifferent to the music and vistas that the best poetry yields.
Okey Ndibe is a Nigerian American novelist whose most recent
book is Never Look an American in the Eye, a memoir. He has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times, BBC online, The Guardian (UK), Financial Times, and D La
Repubblica (Italy).
ALTITUDE ALLY
Okey Ndibe
Ensconced in a front row seat in Economy class,
Suspended thirty-eight thousand feet,
My thoughts remained earthbound.
Shoulder bunched, I leaned to the aisle,
Aware that the blonde next seated
Would countenance no tar.
Her perfumed indifference wafted my way
In equal measure, it seemed
Then, my chivalrous ally appeared.
It rowed to and fro;
Too tiny to be named at first glance
Then it disappeared.
In that spliced moment, a row it made.
If you listened, its air spun
A song, like a protracted hiss, a quick kiss.
A flimsy stowaway, this dreaded, undocumented alien,
Perhaps a native of the West Nile
Dreaming her way, like me, to North America.
Was she a candidate for network news infamy?
A tiny monster busying the brows of doctors scurrying for antidotes.
I had no interest in the odds
Of this sly visitor, squeaking past vigilant eyes.
No interest also in the busy doctors,
Trained to screen homeland pests from foreign vectors.
My lips quivered in self-humor:
Circle back, avenger, passport-less peregrine
And steady your attention on my supercilious neighbor.
Woulda West Nile bite or two
On her pretty face,
Wipe out that sneer?
(A World Assembly of Poets)
Comments by Cyril Wong
RE-MARKINGS: A World Assembly of Poets is a glorious anthology for daring to take risks and by including poets who aren't the expected names, like Joanna Chen from Israel (her 'Babel' poem is a perfect way to signal the anthology's conclusion) and Liu Hongbin from China (I'm thrilled in this case for how, due to "inhospitable politics" as Tijan Sallah mentions in his introduction, we are reminded of the pain of displacement and non-belonging that poetry can capture, waking us readers from any sense of political complacency). I also love it when memorable yet starkly contrasting poems that many have come to love in their different corners of the globe (like those by Rita Dove and the activist Tenzin Tsundue) are placed together in the same volume. Reading this motley curation of verse is both enriching and cathartic, as well as an overall beautiful and life-affirming experience. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of its cosmopolitan symphony. - best, Cyril
RE-MARKINGS: A World Assembly of Poets is a glorious anthology for daring to take risks and by including poets who aren't the expected names, like Joanna Chen from Israel (her 'Babel' poem is a perfect way to signal the anthology's conclusion) and Liu Hongbin from China (I'm thrilled in this case for how, due to "inhospitable politics" as Tijan Sallah mentions in his introduction, we are reminded of the pain of displacement and non-belonging that poetry can capture, waking us readers from any sense of political complacency). I also love it when memorable yet starkly contrasting poems that many have come to love in their different corners of the globe (like those by Rita Dove and the activist Tenzin Tsundue) are placed together in the same volume. Reading this motley curation of verse is both enriching and cathartic, as well as an overall beautiful and life-affirming experience. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of its cosmopolitan symphony. - best, Cyril
BOATS
Cyril Wong
You and your photographs of boats;
that repeated metaphor for departure,
or simply the possibility of a voyage?
What you cannot tell me, you tell me
with a vessel and its single passenger,
eyes fixed on some skylit conclusion.
Set apart and starkly upon a canvas
of tractable waves, brought to still
by the trigger-click of your camera,
like the sound a key makes when it
releases the lock. Your heart became
that lock; these images are how you have
always articulated distance, a withdrawal.
Darling, there are just as many ways
of saying goodbye as there are ways
of letting you go. The boat is narrow
like the width of my heart after
impossible loss, cruel resignation;
this heart you ride in. Love, if this is how
you choose to leave me, let me let you.
You and your photographs of boats;
that repeated metaphor for departure,
or simply the possibility of a voyage?
What you cannot tell me, you tell me
with a vessel and its single passenger,
eyes fixed on some skylit conclusion.
Set apart and starkly upon a canvas
of tractable waves, brought to still
by the trigger-click of your camera,
like the sound a key makes when it
releases the lock. Your heart became
that lock; these images are how you have
always articulated distance, a withdrawal.
Darling, there are just as many ways
of saying goodbye as there are ways
of letting you go. The boat is narrow
like the width of my heart after
impossible loss, cruel resignation;
this heart you ride in. Love, if this is how
you choose to leave me, let me let you.
(A World Assembly of Poets)
Cyril Wong has been called a
confessional poet, according to The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry,
based on his "anxiety over the fragility of human connection and a
relentless self-querying." He is the Singapore Literature Prize-winning
author of poetry collections such as Unmarked Treasure and The Lover's Inventory.
Comments by Charles Johnson
Recipient of National Book Award, USA, the first African American writer to win this award after Ralph Ellison.
Nibir, I just received in today's mail A World Assembly of Poets: Contemporary Poems. This hefty book---417 pages!---is simply beautiful, even breathtaking. Congratulations, old friend. This is sure to become an essential work for readers and scholars. Pranam,, Chuck
Charles Johnson with Nibir K. Ghosh at the latter's Apartment in Seattle during his
Senior Fulbright tenure in the USA, 2003-2004
Comments by Christopher Guerin
Dear Nibir,
Thank you so much for including me in your glorious anthology. It is the most significant publication I have ever received of some of my works. I’m also deeply humbled that you chose to print two poems, “The House,” in particular. It has always been one of my favorites, but has never been published before. Seeing it for the first time in this handsome volume will be a cherished memory. I also greatly appreciate being mentioned in the introduction with some many other estimable poets. I hope you plan to sell the book on Amazon. I will be happy to promote it to all of my friends and encourage them to buy it.. Again, thank you so much, and congratulations on a marvelous achievement. Warm regards, Christopher
Thank you so much for including me in your glorious anthology. It is the most significant publication I have ever received of some of my works. I’m also deeply humbled that you chose to print two poems, “The House,” in particular. It has always been one of my favorites, but has never been published before. Seeing it for the first time in this handsome volume will be a cherished memory. I also greatly appreciate being mentioned in the introduction with some many other estimable poets. I hope you plan to sell the book on Amazon. I will be happy to promote it to all of my friends and encourage them to buy it.. Again, thank you so much, and congratulations on a marvelous achievement. Warm regards, Christopher
Christopher
Guerin is Vice
President of Corporate Communications, Sweetwater
Sound, Inc., USA
Comments by Fred Chappell
Dear Dr. Sallah,
I have read through—much
through quickly---A World Assembly of Poets.
I will be returning to it many times, to reread and reassess my feelings
and thoughts. But that will happen over
months and maybe years, so I’ll respond now and re-examine later. It is quite an
ambitious and successful undertaking. I
admire immensely your broad acquaintance with world poetry and—as I surmise
from your notes—with the poets who contributed to the volume. I am proud and
honored to be included in such colorful and august company. But if I had comprehended more closely the
nature of the collection, I would have submitted different poems. I chose the fables because Aesop and La
Fontaine are globally known names. But
the form of the ancient fables precludes (mostly) social change or
revolutionary sentiment. Aesop’s
attitude is one of weary, sardonic, or rueful resignation to the status
quo. He will not join with Aparna
Lanjewar in “The joy of living in the philosophy/of Revolt and
Revolution.” He would not dispute with
Gurchuran Rampuri that the ruler made the Book Divine “a
pawn in his hands”; he would only agree, wearily. He would not fight to do away with racial or
sexual injustice or the caste system.
Aesop’s forte is fatalism, alas. So I would have chosen other pieces
I’ve written.
But this is really beside the point. I admire the fighters for truth and
justice. Mr. Chipasula stands forth
courageously, as do Mr. Kgositsile (“to have a home is not a favour”), Mr.
Hoelbling (“numbers don’t honor individuality”), Ms. Naheed (“those who are
afraid even of little girls/How small, how insignificant they are”), LaShawna
Griffith (Choose any poem, almost any line.)
And so very many poets represented here who are or have been activists for
the best causes. It is also very striking to me how many of these poems are
about the art—and duties, especially—of poetry itself. At least a good half at least of these poems
examine, defend, uphold, and lament the role of the poets in society, how they
are ignored or insulted or chastened ore even imprisoned by tyrannical
regimes. That has been a familiar theme
since the time of Hesiod, of course, but in Assembly it is voice anew
and often. Even so, this Assembly has variety: voice,
language, metaphor, and usage that seem to spring from the soil of the nations
from which they originate. We will not
mistake a poem from Spain for one from Russia, even when the themes are similar
or nearly identical. There is even room
for humor—as in your pun on “hand” in our Introduction and the pun on “aids” in
a poem I can’t locate now.
So—once more—Thank you! A strong job you’ve done the worthiest. - Yours
truly, Fred Chappell
Fred Chappell, acclaimed poet and novelist, is author of over a dozen books of poetry, a handful of novels and short story collections, and two books of critical prose. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Bollingen Award, the Aiken Taylor Award, an award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the best foreign book prize from the Academie Française. He was named North Carolina Poet Laureate in 1997, a position he held until 2002. He retired after 40 years as an English professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997-2002.
Fred Chappell, acclaimed poet and novelist, is author of over a dozen books of poetry, a handful of novels and short story collections, and two books of critical prose. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Bollingen Award, the Aiken Taylor Award, an award from the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the best foreign book prize from the Academie Française. He was named North Carolina Poet Laureate in 1997, a position he held until 2002. He retired after 40 years as an English professor at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was the Poet Laureate of North Carolina from 1997-2002.
Comments by Frank Chipasula
Véronique Tadjo is a writer, artist and professor of French and Francophone Literature. Born in France and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, she did most of her studies in Abidjan before earning a doctorate in Black American Literature and Civilization at the Sorbonne, Paris IV. She has written novels, poems and books for young people which she illustrates. Her work has been translated in many languages. She shares her time between London and Abidjan.
Comments by Prof. Sushil Gupta
Amongst the silences of restless nights/
My voice wants to break through the shell of words/ to name and sing the evidence/
of our resolve and will to live/ past the glib of noble intentions.../ .....Amongst
the silences of these restless nights/ our dreams refuse the perfumed bandages/
that try to hide the depth of their wounds...--Keorapetse Kgositsile ("The
King Has Arrived")
Brother Tijan: Jealous down, as we say in my part of
Africa, this is a powerful document, a treasure and nourishment (beyond
comfort food) that will fortify my creative muscles for the next leg of my
journey on this rocky road. This monument will endure the test of time. Though I have not read anything else because the book finds
me in the middle of a demanding project, I know that this document
belongs with such anthologies as Jerome Rothenberg's Technicians of the
Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania as
well as Pierre Joris & Habib Tengour's Poems for the
Millennium.
FRANK
M. CHIPASULA
is a Malawian poet, editor and fiction writer. He holds an M.A. in Creative
Writing from Brown University, an M.A. in Afro-American Studies from Yale
University and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Brown University. His Visions
and Reflections (1972) is the first published book of poetry in English by
a Malawian poet. His other books are O Earth, Wait for Me (1984), Nightwatcher,
Nightsong (1986) and Whispers in the Wings: New and Selected Poems (1991).
is an internationally acclaimed multiple
award-winning Playwright. She holds the eminent position of University
Professor of Global Letters & Professor of English at the University of
Wisconsin, USA, and was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Comments by Tess Onwueme
A WORLD ASSEMBLY OF
POETS
In this season of unrelenting drought
The scorched human body and soul appears jinxed,
Sizzling in the ravages of toxic Leadership
With vacated (nay, non-existent!) Conscience.
How then can today’s endangered Universe
Not gratefully applaud this timely offering
Of a nourishing collection
By the “World Assembly of Poets “
Daring to water the sea of famished spirits?
For inviting me into this communion,
I cannot but chant
MIGHTY FELICITATIONS!
With honor and admiration, I salute you––
Tijani Sallah, Nibir Ghosh, et al.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tess Onwueme, Ph.D.,
Comments by
Margarita Merino
Dear
Nibir,
I have received the
wonderful special number of Re-Markings: A World Assembly of Poets!!!
It looks truly great! Many congratulations! Thank you so much: ¡Gracias de todocorazón!
It is an honor
to be a part of it! Please, give my warmest thanks to our Guest Editor
and Editors, Dr. Tijan M.Sallah, Dr. A. Karunaker and to the beautiful and
accomplished Dr. Sunita Rani Ghosh… Is she your wife? I imagine how
proud you both feel about each other! Best wishes too to Sanddep K.
Arora. A note of thanks to professor Jonah Raskin who is the person who sent my
copy from Santa Rosa, CA.
My husband Steve
Lindsay wants to buy two or three copies, but he told me last time he tried
that the book still was not available for purchase… I want to send it at least
to a couple of people who will love it! I wish to you, to your beautiful
wife, your family and country, that your compassionate and generous approach
will come back to all your world with BIG gratitude, tranquility, plentitude,and
well being.
You, my dear
friend, chant with your deep work and generosity the call for unity, diversity,
understanding, respect, inviting all to open our minds to make us stronger in
celebration of education, solidarity, life: We NEED those values in our wounded
world, so I sing your name today!
I am enjoying
too your marvelousblog, and I am discovering little by little the contents of A Word Assembly of Poets!!!
I have found the family I needed to share and
feel I am part of the Earth! I have met those
who demolish boundaries, those ready to accomplish the dream of my old children
poem: “Come on To Defend the Beauty of the World.”
This amazing
book that you have created in company of other talented people is a blessing,
an explosion of dignity and FREEDOM. I am so happy to have the privilege
to read such magical contents, its diversity, its warmth, its inspiration.
¡Muchasfelicidades!
This Special
Assembly is permitting me to know poets who want to be humans first!
Yeah! I am ready to travel no matter where to read with them.
In your blog it is so pleasant to find the wisdom of Jonah Raskin - and
watch him pictured in front of my dreamed place! Makes me happy to feel
the energy of the poets, their comments! I love to see the faces of my
brothers and sisters!
I want to come
back now to the book. Opening it now (pg. 61) I find I am having a
conversation with the great lady who was the mom of Tijan M. Sallah, in “a
country…/ Where we greet everyone by name in the morning.” (pg. 64)
The book, the
blog... Where I should go? : )
You, Nibir, and
your friends understand the best part of knowledge: the one that heals and
brings IDEALS and souls together!
Best wishes for
you and Sunita. My husband and I are dreaming one day not far away we
will meet and celebrate with you both!
And with all your friends!
¡VIVA INDIA!
INDIA MOTHER OF MARVELS! Margarita Merino Lindsay, January the
14th, 2018
Dr. Margarita Merino Lindsay was born in Spain,
León “The Capital of Winter.”
She has published Viaje al interior (Voyage to
the Interior), Baladas del abismo (Ballads from the Abyss),
Halcón herido (Wounded Falcon), Demonio contra
arcángel (Demon versus Archangel), the Italian bilingual
anthology La dama della galerna (Grand Lady of the
Tempest), Viaje al exterior (Voyage to the Exterior)… Prof.
MarÃa Cruz RodrÃguez--in her book on MM poetry -- points her "as
the pioneer of Eco-Feminism in Spain” reflecting how along
her poetical trip she is committed with universal love and compassion
for Nature an all creatures.
Comments by Veronique Tadjo
Dear Dr. Tijan, I have read A World Assembly of Poets with
great pleasure. As you point out in your preface, it is befitting that Africa
comes first. Our poetry has a long oral tradition and the African poets that
you have chosen show this inspiration. It is an amazing achievement to
have collected such a wealth of poems coming from voices all over the world. I
have gained much inspiration from reading the anthology. So many
interpretations of life! The telling of how we live and die - without borders.
This publication is a testimony to the energy and determination of all those
who have collaborated on the project. Congratulations to you, Dr Nibir Ghosh,
Dr Karunaker and Dr Sunita Rani Ghosh! I am happy to feature in this major
contribution to world poetry. Thank you for your preface and thank you again
for including my work.
All the very best, Véronique
Véronique Tadjo is a writer, artist and professor of French and Francophone Literature. Born in France and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, she did most of her studies in Abidjan before earning a doctorate in Black American Literature and Civilization at the Sorbonne, Paris IV. She has written novels, poems and books for young people which she illustrates. Her work has been translated in many languages. She shares her time between London and Abidjan.
Dear Nibir,
Thanks for a copy of this anthology of Contemporary Poems.
The sheer volume and its eclectic collection takes one's breath away. How you managed to compile it at all is a minor miracle. Tijan Sallah's introduction is all embracing and enumerates the global brotherhood of poets. I marvel at his sweep of Dalit theme in Indian poetry, plight of refugees over the world, uprootedness, migrations, holocaust, cultural hybridity, religious zealotry, middle east squabbles, all within 27 pages. My mind boggled at his recounting the names of distinguished poets from different countries and languages.
He manages to titillate the imagination through this cornucopia. My hearty congratulations!
- Sushil Gupta
by Urvashi Sabu
Prof. Sushil Gupta is the author of the acclaimed novel,
The Fourth Monkey
Comments by Dr. Aparna Lanjewar
Truly
happy to share that some of my poems are housed in this amazing unconventional
anthology “Re-Markings” - A World Assembly of Poets special issue on poetry
edited by well known Gambian writer and one of Africa’s significant voices
Tijan M. Sallah. Its editorial team that includes UGC Emeritus Professor Nibir
Ghosh and others have done a fantastic job of compiling together 100
contemporary poets from all over the world. Closely, modeled on the Vintage
book of Contemporary World Poetry edited by J D McClatchy, which remains
unmatched and unrivalled, this particular compilation, A world Assembly of
Poets: Contemporary Poems is not just bold and seminal but comes quite closer
to it.
The book is unconditionally unique and needs no models but
the only comparison if any it elicited was the vintage book from my point of
view. There are possibly good many others but this seemed handy for the
resonance of painstaking research is undeniable in both Also I must admit that
I certainly do have few reservations for the vintage book too, as all you
frequently encounter are indisputable brand names only too willingly
adding up to the greater joy and delight of the compiler/editors. While
speaking of our collection it definitely moves on to the next level of
greater inclusivity and challenges anthological stereotypes in many respects
I am particularly excited because in recent times when several
anthologies and special poetry issues have come out listing the same
conventional names in poetry, and seem guided more by personal choices and
preferences of the compilers/ editors. This one definitely stands out for its
depth, range, underlying beauty and multiplicity of poetic voices and
approaches, Besides its penchant to meet reasonable standards of
versification.It is a well researched collection, meeting rare reviews
worldwide…Happy holding my copy right now…enjoying my presence amongst some
very good poets across the world.
Dr. Aparna Lanjewar Bose is
a trilingual writer, poet, critic, and translator. She is Associate Professor at English and Foreign Languages University (A Central university),
Hyderabad. She specializes in American
Literature, African American Literature, Revolutionary Marginal Literatures and
Contemporary women’s writings. Her study tours, research and Social activism
led her to visit several countries like Germany, France, England, Switzerland,
Sweden, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Thailand, Austria where she spoke on both
literary and social concerns.
Comments & Review Essay
Dear Prof. Ghosh,
I am delighted to receive the long awaited world poetry issue, and even more delighted to see my translations in them. Please accept my congratulations on the production of this very eminent, much needed volume that brings together world poets under one cover. Its elegant design and presentation, along with its content, are evocative of the high standards that Re-Markings is synonymous with. Thank you and best wishes for more such ventures in the future! - Urvashi
Re-Markings' Special Number: A World
Assembly of Poets
Review Essay
When was the
last time I saw, read or heard of the publication of an anthology of world
poetry? With this question on my mind, I did a quick web search and realized to
my astonishment that the last published compilation was in 2010!
Eight years
down the line, there comes an ambitious volume, the brainchild of Prof. Nibir K
Ghosh and celebrated Gambian poet Dr. Tijan M. Sallah, aptly titled A World Assembly of Poets. Published as
a special number of the sixteen years old and still going strong literary
journal ‘Re-Markings’, this issue is not only a collector’s item but an
absolute must have for any serious student or lover of literature.
In a world
riven by war and strife, this special
number makes a bravely unique and concentrated effort to unite, within the same
cover, living poets from across all
continents; poets who are aware of, and alert towards, not just the
craft of poetry but also of the dilemmas confronting humanity, nations, and
cultures today. In the Editorial, Prof Ghosh quips about Plato’s aversion to
having the poet in his ideal state; and moves on deftly to Shakespeare’s,
Wordsworth’s and Shelley’s impassioned avowal of the craft of poetry, and the
significance of poets across cultures. The contents page follows, with the
sections being classified according to continents, and within that the
countries, in alphabetical order. (No partiality there!) An Introduction by Dr
Sallah critically traces, analyses and evaluates the evolution and growth of
modern poetry, with reference to the poets included in this volume. And with
that done, we come to the kernel.
The first
thing that strikes one is that many of the poets are as yet comparatively
lesser known; some even make their publishing debut here, in this issue! And
that could possibly be the biggest achievement of this special number. This moving
away from the canonical, the venerated, the Dead, to the Living, the new, and
the mint fresh, reflects the concern of the editors to make this volume even
more representative of the times we live in, rather than a hearkening to the
ages past. It is an act of literary courage as well as honesty, of presenting
to the world a new mirror to the present, a new retelling of the past, a new
vision of the future. The second interesting aspect of this number is that
barring a few (which appear in English translation), almost all the poems are
originally written in English. While purists may deride this as not being
representative of world languages, I am of the opinion that this conscious
choice of one language, particularly from non English speaking countries,
reflects a post colonial ‘coming of age’, a recognition, of ‘owning’ the
language, so to speak. The poets under consideration are comfortable with the
language, and use its tropes and nuances with refreshing expertise. The
translations too are sensitive and refined.
Then there
is the very interesting inclusion of the expatriate, globalised experience in
the selection of poets who have relocated from their homelands to other
countries. Thus, for example, Gurcharan Rampuri features in the Canadian and
Meera Ekkanath Klein in the USA section. The Indian section is eclectic, featuring
legends as well as award winning poets (Arun Kamal, Gopikrishnan Kottoor, Shiv
K Kumar, Jayant Mahapatra, Arundhati Subramaniam) academicians (Shankar Dutt,
Ramesh C Shah) Dalit voices (Dr Aparna Lanjewar, Sharan Kumar Limbale)
Journalist Pritish Nandy, senior IRS officer KK Srivastava, and, wonderfully
rendered, Tibetan-Indian poet Tenzin Tsundue.
The poems in
the volume speak eloquently of indigenous cultures, myth and folklore (Africa),
of daily life and cultural flux, racial identities and conflicts (America), of
women’s issues, caste and community, poverty and want, history and the glorious
past (Asia). They are fresh, and appeal to the modern sensibility (Australia,
New Zealand). They are inclusive and global, philosophical and evocative of the
Classical age (Europe). They reflect the richness and pain of a mixed identity
(Latin America and Caribbean). The tiny but unique section on the Middle East,
featuring, (and this is surely a coup!) women poets from Israel and Iran is a
fitting finale to a poetic journey through the modern world with all its conundrums
and conflicts of identity, gender, class, community and nation.
The volume is
beautifully produced. Clearly a labour of love
for its editors. This volume
deserves praise not just for the ambition with which it was conceived, but for
the brilliance of the final product. It could well be on the syllabus of university
curricula across the world. And it should.
Dr. Urvashi Sabu is Associate Professor, Dept. of English, PGDAV College, Delhi University, Delhi . She has recently been selected for the prestigious Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship 2018 at UEA, Norwich, U.K.
Comments in Poetic form by Dr. Hemlata Srivastava
If music is the food of love...
"If music is the food of love"
Poetry is the food for
heart,
Catering to the cravings
of the mind.
It creates not only
the rhythmic words,
But brings harmony to the discordant World.
This brings to the
need of Poets, need of Poetry.
And here comes 'A
World Assembly of Poets',
Poets pouring perfect
Poesy,
Hailing from all
corners of the world,
Covering all the
Continents and the different shades,
Passing through the
prism of emotions,
Reflecting the serene ray
of Poesy.
Appearing, as if the
whole World gathered together,
To hold their hands
and sharing their views, while
Voyaging through the
realm of imagination and sailing through the waves of emotions.
Only Poets can do this
magical charm,
And create the perfect
world of calm,
That charms us with
the enlightening vision
And make us cross the
sea of oblivion, and
Help us reach
the blissful mission
By giving a sense of
unique satisfaction.
Which is beyond
sharing,
Beyond
description,
Installing the
poet
In the hearts of the
readers.
- Hemlata
Dr. Hemlata Srivastava is Associate Professor in the Department of English Studies & Research at Agra College, Agra, India. Here she is seen at the Shakespeare and Company, Paris
Re-Markings
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