Singing In The Dark: A Global Anthology

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...Although it may seem that devoting poetic energy to an invisible enemy that is pushing the world towards a terrifying future is too closely tied to social duty the truth is entirely different: it is not death that the poets are celebrating it is life. EVALD FLISAR Slovenian author and playwrightWhile the benumbed world is struggling to combat the apocalyptic devastation it has wreaked a choral spectrum of poetry has emerged to rekindle the spirit of hope. Has poetry not always spelt hope in dark times? Over a hundred voices of unparalleled resilience have gathered here to speak... It is a word of love solace and bonding; the word the world today is sorely in need of hearing. GULAMMOHAMMED SHEIKH artist and authorSinging 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. Review Perhaps no catastrophe has ever struck human life with power as pervasive as the pandemic. While the benumbed world is struggling to combat the apocalyptic devastation it has wreaked a choral spectrum of poetry has emerged to rekindle the spirit of hope. Has poetry not always spelt hope in dark times? Over a hundred voices of unparalleled resilience have gathered here to speak in a jumbled mix of words to carry a sky of memories. Sharing the earth's breathing they have burst forth into a slipstream of time. In each of these the word of the poet rises across nations reduced to the size of a mouse hole to envision the anguish of mountains. It is a word of love solace and bonding; the word the world today is sorely in need of hearing. -- Gulammohammed Sheikh artist and authorI salute this effort and extend sincere congratulations to all the poets included in the anthology. Although it may seem that devoting poetic energy to an invisible enemy that is pushing the world towards a terrifying future is too closely tied to social duty the truth is entirely different: it is not death that the poets are celebrating it is life. -- Evald Flisar Slovenian author and playwrightThe 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...a collection that lovers of poetry - as well as recorders of history - will want to include in their libraries. -- Anjana Basu ―Setu journalReading it is to be reminded of the restorative power of poetry and the unputdownability of poets - as chroniclers of resistance rage wonder; as witnesses to horror and uncertainty; as makers of hope. -- Sampurna Chattarji ―Biblio: A Review of BooksAn immersive read this collection of poems is meant to be savoured and mulled over ―Reading Room Co. Published On: 2021-01-13 About the Author 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