Jeet Thayil edits anthology of Indian poetry in English
New Delhi: Poet-novelist Jeet Thayil has edited an extensive selection of works of 94 Indian poets that include several lost, uncollected, or out-of-print poems.
"The Penguin Book of Indian Poets" will be released April 18 under Penguin Random House's Hamish Hamilton imprint.
The anthology seeks to return the forgotten figures of Indian poetry to the centre where they belong.
Thayil compiled the work of 94 poets for this anthology, the oldest born in 1924 and the youngest in 2001.
With the aim of giving readers a deeper understanding of a vast and fluid poetic tradition, this collection brings together writers from across the world, a wealth of voices that present an expansive, encompassing idea of what makes an 'Indian' poet, a Penguin statement said.
Thayil began work on the first version of this anthology in 2003.
"This final version, 20 years in the making, has a latitude and breadth that makes it essential reading. I think of it as a history of India, a lost or overlooked history of ideas, passion, politics and autobiography," he says.
The book includes lost, uncollected, or out-of-print poems by major poets, essays that place entire bodies of work into their precise cultural contexts, and a collection of classic black-and-white portraits by Madhu Kapparath.
These images, taken over a period of 30 years, form an archive of historical scope. They also offer the viewer unparalleled intimacy and access to the lives of some of India's greatest poets.
Commenting on the book, Aparna Kumar, editor at Penguin Random House India, says, It is an exquisite collection of both canonical and newer names in the Indian poetry landscape. This anthology provides a profound understanding of poetry, its vastness and vitality."
According to Meru Gokhale, publisher at Penguin Press, curating a poetry anthology of English-language poets in India is a massive undertaking, one that Thayil has toiled over for two decades.
"The result is a definitive work, and I have no doubt that this landmark anthology will find a home on the shelves and in the hearts of every single poetry lover in this country," she says.
