PENGUIN presents SINGING IN THE DARK
An international anthology of poems which includes works by over a hundred poets from across six continents writing in some 20 languages. Edited by eminent poet K Satchidanandan and scholar-author Nishi Chawla, the book is a powerful poetic testimony of a world transformed abruptly by the coronavirus pandemic.
SINGING IN THE DARK
Singing in the Dark brings together the finest of poetic responses to the coronavirus pandemic.
More than a hundred of the world’s most esteemed poets reflect upon a crisis that has dramatically altered our lives and laid bare our vulnerabilities. The poems capture all its dimensions: the trauma of solitude, the unexpected transformation in the expression of interpersonal relationships, the even sharper visibility of the class divide, the marvellous revival of nature and the profound realization of the transience of human existence. The moods vary from quiet contemplation and choking anguish to suppressed rage and cautious celebration in an anthology that serves as an aesthetic archive of a strange era in human history.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
‘The range and depth of this amazing anthology convey the conflicted and conflicting emotions of our times. It provides the consolations of poetry and the solace of art as balm to troubled souls.’ – Namita Gokhale, author and director, Jaipur Literature Festival
‘Over a hundred voices of unparalleled resilience have gathered here to speak… In each of them, the word of the poet rises above nations… it is a word of love, solace and bonding.’
– Gulammohammed Sheikh, author and artist
‘I salute this effort and extend sincere congratulations to all the poets included in this anthology… it is not death the poets are celebrating, it is life.’ – Evald Flisar, Slovenian author and playwright
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
K. Satchidanandan is a leading Indian poet He is also perhaps the most translated of contemporary Indian poets, having 32 collections of translation in 19 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, English, Irish, French, German and Italian, besides all the major Indian languages. He has 24 collections of poetry, four books of travel, a full length play and a collection of one-act plays, two books for children and several collections of critical essays, including five books in English on Indian literature besides several collections of world poetry in translation. He has been a Professor of English, and also the chief executive of the Sahitya Akademi, the Director of the School of Translation Studies, Indira Gandhi Open University, Delhi and National Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. He is a Fellow of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and has won 52 literary awards from different states and countries, including the Sahitya Akademi award, India-Poland Friendship Medal from the Government of Poland, Knighthood from the Government of Italy and World Prize for Poetry for Peace from the Government of the UAE. His recent collections in English include While I Write, Misplaced Objects and Other Poems, The Missing Rib: Collected Poems, Not Only the Oceans, Questions from the Dead and The Whispering Tree: Poems of Love and Longing.
Nishi Chawla is an academician and a writer. She has six collections of poetry, nine plays, two screenplays and two novels to her credit. Nishi Chawla holds a Ph. D. in English from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. USA. After teaching for nearly twenty years as a tenured Professor of English at Delhi University, India, she had migrated with her family to a suburb of Washington D.C. She has taught at the University of Maryland from 1999 until 2014. She is now on the faculty of Thomas Edison State University, New Jersey, USA. Nishi Chawla’s plays get staged both in the USA and in India.
Vintage | Penguin Random House India
Hardcover | Rs 499 | 376pp
