A bookstore and a collective focused on translating Indian literary classics into English has formed a partnership to bring Indian poets t...
A bookstore and a collective focused on translating Indian literary classics into English has formed a partnership to bring Indian poets together. The bookstore, Kitab Khana if Mumbai, a regular venue for readings by poets and writers is now hosting Poetry Live – poetry readings and discussions – on its Instagram account.
Poet and writer Arundhathi Subramaniam launched Poetry Live on March 31, saying, “There is something about poetry, I think, particularly in times of uncertainty. It’s a role that is quite irreplaceable, and has to do with the fact that poetry responds spiritedly to uncertainty, but without ever resorting to the language of certainty. That’s what makes it so irreplaceable.” Subramaniam opened the readings with Rumi’s The Tent, a poem she has been revisiting in recent times.
“Outside, the freezing desert night.
This other night inside grows warm, kindling.
Let the landscape be covered with thorny crust.
We have a soft garden in here.
The continents blasted,
cities and little towns, everything
become a scorched, blackened ball.The news we hear is full of grief for that future,
but the real news inside here
is there’s no news at all.”
Poetry Live now includes sone 70 poets from all over India, from various literary and linguistic landscapes. Ashwani Kumar, co-founder of Indian Novels Collective, brought these poets together during the...
