Nabina Das in conversation with Sonnet Mondal
Interview with Nabina Das
Nabina Das’s debut poetry collection Blue Vessel (Zaporogue, Denmark) has been named one of the best poetry books of 2012, and the debut novel Footprints in the Bajra (Cedar Books, New Delhi) was longlisted in the prestigious Indian prize "Vodafone Crossword Book Award 2011". A 2012 Charles Wallace Fellow in Creative Writing, University of Stirling, UK, and a 2012 Sangam House Lavanya Sankaran Fiction Fellow, India, her second poetry collection Into the Migrant City, the product of an Associate Fellowship and residency with Sarai-CSDS (New Delhi) in 2010, is forthcoming soon from Writers Workshop, India. Nabina’s poetry and prose have been published in several international journals and anthologies, the latest being Prairie Schooner (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and The Yellow Nib: Modern English Poetry by Indians (Queen’s University, Belfast). A 2007 Joan Jakobson fiction scholar (Wesleyan University, US) and 2007 Julio Lobo fiction scholar (Lesley University, US), she has worked in journalism and media for about 10 years.
Interviewer:- Sonnet Mondal, Editor — The Enchanting Verses Literary Review
We know you as a fearless poet who never hesitates to present her perspective. How important has poetry been in this regard?
Am I fearless? I'm fearful of a lot of things. Just that one can't keep quiet about the growing injustice and indictment in today's political atmosphere. Poetry is important because it is poetry that gives me the strength of thought, ideas and even of flesh. Poetry is important because it means life. To face the threats that we see looming today, especially, poetry and power of the words are the weapons that I tuck in my vest. Hiding perspective has never been the agenda for me. We can get killed, we can also just fall down and die. We live only once, so let it be for poetry.
You have a fulfilling experience into cross-genre exploration. Though you are more widely known as a poet, do you feel ‘Footprints in Bajra’ is your supreme piece of work till date? Which genre do you find more appealing and why?
I don't think any of my books can be called a supreme piece of work yet, not within this short span of writing. "Footprints in the Bajra" has its own relevance, being very few of the books written with a reference to Maoism in India. Acclaimed writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar has critically commented on the book and its role in Indian English fiction. Reviews including the Sahitya akademi's journal Indian Literature has called it one of the first.
I'm a poet for I feel that way most often. However, for me genres are not watertight compartments. I'm fluid, crossover and root-spreading. Good fiction is always an impetus for good poetry for me. So I write poetry first and foremost but also practice fiction because both are as compatible as wool and dye.
Nowadays we say, ‘Poets read Poetry’ and then, there is a small community of poets. Moreover people are more interested to write and get published than understand poetry as a subject. What is the social importance of poetry from this viewpoint? How do you feel effective and strong poetry can shape the literary and political framework of a country?
Possibly these days more people are eager to have their work published because there are a number of avenues available now. Whether less people are interested in understanding poetry I wouldn't know. But there certainly needs to be more critical discussion on poetry written in English in India. The social importance of poetry is always there. Poetry is not only sighs, whispers and loves and lies. The personal, which is often reflected in poetry, is political for me. Hence, it is a socially relevant project. Look at India of our times where we have sectarianism, divisiveness, and then agendas that are anti-women-Dalit-Muslim-Tribal, etc., being peddled as the norm. If poetry doesn't rise to the occasion to protest, what else would? The establishment has always feared poets.
From ancient Greece to the present day Medellin, Colombia, poets have crossed borders just to hear and discuss poetry. As a poet, you have read at several poet-meets. How important are these gatherings?
Cannot say I have been to very many gatherings, but reading with poets and poetry lovers is always a life-affirming idea. It energizes the poet, it confirms faith in the power of poetry, and it spells new challenges and dreams. So I'm all in favor of crossing borders, walls, rivers and seas for ferrying poetry far and wide. More we poets take our ware around in the face of injustice, discrimination, ignorance and passivity, the more the world might be a better place to live.
You have the experience of teaching creative writing at Rutgers University. Do you think there are particular norms that a poet should follow to write something we call as — a really good poem?
At Rutgers I taught what is called a Composition or a Writing course but it does include some aspects of Creative writing. We taught from fiction, nonfiction, poetry as well graphic comics with suitable examples to illustrate how to write a creative essay.
Well, a poem is either good or very good. A matter of perception largely. But of course poems can be terrible too, in which case it is not a poem! Following a particular norm is never the key to writing a poem of substance. Creative Writing courses simply teach the best models available in writing, not a sure-shot theory. Also, CW allows one to have a nurturing environment where one is among a group of likeminded people. It can get competitive and rigorous but the best education is honest critique and support rather than Facebook-style 'like', etc. A really good poem happens when one is in it. Norms or rules are there to illustrate a point, not to make a poet become a poet. If at all one needs guidance, one advice I give is: read as much as possible, the best from one's contemporaries, the canon, and all that is found.
How important is criticism? How has it played a role in your writing career?
If writing is water, criticism is the vessel where it's contained. Criticism is important to a literary tradition anywhere in the world. For poetry in English in India, I cannot say I see a lot of enriching criticism. Most often, we see book reviews where either there is back-slapping or there is total mayhem. For me criticism is important for the growth of a discipline. Most good critics ought to be also patrons who show the way forward. Hopefully, we'll have more of them soon. For my own writing, I've accepted critical inputs from both friends and strangers, young commentators as well as older and established mentors. For me it's only meant a better understanding of the craft of poetry writing.
Don’t you feel there are less opportunities for youngsters— when it comes to Indian English poetry? How would you advice young ambitious poets to perceive ‘rejection’?
I'll respond to the second part first. Rejection is not the end of the world. All writers big or small get rejections. It's a part of the learning process. I know some poets who fear rejection so much that they confess taking recourse to self-publishing to avert their sense of loss. I say, each rejection hardens your will to do better. Because, if you are a committed writer, nothing will stop you.
These days I believe there are ample opportunities for young poets writing in English in India. The journals are more in number and so are the web zines. Apart from the major known publishers, there are several new small publishers on the scene now. Social media has made it easier for new voices to be heard. In fact, publishers and editors too are scouting for new writers from social media forums.
Almost no big publishing house plays a serious role in promoting poetry in India. Those who do, lack good editors and funding. How can this situation be improved?
There is poetry from big publishing houses. But mostly by those that are senior in the poetry fraternity. Those that are known as icons. Newer and younger poets might need more time to be spotted by these prominent publishers. But we now have a decent crop of indie publishers who are showing interest in poetry. I cannot comment on funding available to these new publishing ventures. As for good editorial help, perhaps one can expect better. There's self-publishing too but I feel it's always good to have another set of eyes evaluating your work.
Do you believe poets should believe in the ‘Less is more’ theory or they should be free from preconceived ideas while penning?
Is there a "less is more" theory? Writing comes when it comes and in the forms that are spontaneous to the mood of the poet. That doesn't mean one will not premeditate and write a sonnet or a villanelle or a haiku. The less or more in terms of line length, words, or rhyme scheme will depend on what one chooses to write.
Considering poetry as naive, do you feel there has to be some inspiration for writing poetry?
Not sure if I understand what is meant by "naive" here. Inspiration is a weak expression for me. Of course there's a trigger, a sudden flash upon that "inward eye", or pure serendipity. As a poet I seldom get inspired, but I revel in the found-ness, in the moment of ecstasy when an idea strikes. Not always daffodils. It could be Kamala Das' eunuchs and more.
What are you currently reading? If you go for a retreat, which books would you prefer to carry with you and why? When would we get to read your next book of poems or prose?
I'm reading a bunch of new Indian poets alongside my all time favorites Milosz, Szymborska, Hass, Kolatkar, Hoshang Merchant, and K Satchidanandan. There are many more of course. I usually carry as few books as I can when I travel but try to find a library where I can go read. Or a bookshop. There's my Norton anthology which I like to keep alongside for leafing through, but even that's a fat volume. So quite often I like reading poetry online from various beautifully curated poetry sites.
My third volume of poetry should be out this year hopefully. Don't have any dates yet.
Nabina Das’s debut poetry collection Blue Vessel (Zaporogue, Denmark) has been named one of the best poetry books of 2012, and the debut novel Footprints in the Bajra (Cedar Books, New Delhi) was longlisted in the prestigious Indian prize "Vodafone Crossword Book Award 2011". A 2012 Charles Wallace Fellow in Creative Writing, University of Stirling, UK, and a 2012 Sangam House Lavanya Sankaran Fiction Fellow, India, her second poetry collection Into the Migrant City, the product of an Associate Fellowship and residency with Sarai-CSDS (New Delhi) in 2010, is forthcoming soon from Writers Workshop, India. Nabina’s poetry and prose have been published in several international journals and anthologies, the latest being Prairie Schooner (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) and The Yellow Nib: Modern English Poetry by Indians (Queen’s University, Belfast). A 2007 Joan Jakobson fiction scholar (Wesleyan University, US) and 2007 Julio Lobo fiction scholar (Lesley University, US), she has worked in journalism and media for about 10 years.
Interviewer:- Sonnet Mondal, Editor — The Enchanting Verses Literary Review
We know you as a fearless poet who never hesitates to present her perspective. How important has poetry been in this regard?
Am I fearless? I'm fearful of a lot of things. Just that one can't keep quiet about the growing injustice and indictment in today's political atmosphere. Poetry is important because it is poetry that gives me the strength of thought, ideas and even of flesh. Poetry is important because it means life. To face the threats that we see looming today, especially, poetry and power of the words are the weapons that I tuck in my vest. Hiding perspective has never been the agenda for me. We can get killed, we can also just fall down and die. We live only once, so let it be for poetry.
You have a fulfilling experience into cross-genre exploration. Though you are more widely known as a poet, do you feel ‘Footprints in Bajra’ is your supreme piece of work till date? Which genre do you find more appealing and why?
I don't think any of my books can be called a supreme piece of work yet, not within this short span of writing. "Footprints in the Bajra" has its own relevance, being very few of the books written with a reference to Maoism in India. Acclaimed writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar has critically commented on the book and its role in Indian English fiction. Reviews including the Sahitya akademi's journal Indian Literature has called it one of the first.
I'm a poet for I feel that way most often. However, for me genres are not watertight compartments. I'm fluid, crossover and root-spreading. Good fiction is always an impetus for good poetry for me. So I write poetry first and foremost but also practice fiction because both are as compatible as wool and dye.
Nowadays we say, ‘Poets read Poetry’ and then, there is a small community of poets. Moreover people are more interested to write and get published than understand poetry as a subject. What is the social importance of poetry from this viewpoint? How do you feel effective and strong poetry can shape the literary and political framework of a country?
Possibly these days more people are eager to have their work published because there are a number of avenues available now. Whether less people are interested in understanding poetry I wouldn't know. But there certainly needs to be more critical discussion on poetry written in English in India. The social importance of poetry is always there. Poetry is not only sighs, whispers and loves and lies. The personal, which is often reflected in poetry, is political for me. Hence, it is a socially relevant project. Look at India of our times where we have sectarianism, divisiveness, and then agendas that are anti-women-Dalit-Muslim-Tribal, etc., being peddled as the norm. If poetry doesn't rise to the occasion to protest, what else would? The establishment has always feared poets.
From ancient Greece to the present day Medellin, Colombia, poets have crossed borders just to hear and discuss poetry. As a poet, you have read at several poet-meets. How important are these gatherings?
Cannot say I have been to very many gatherings, but reading with poets and poetry lovers is always a life-affirming idea. It energizes the poet, it confirms faith in the power of poetry, and it spells new challenges and dreams. So I'm all in favor of crossing borders, walls, rivers and seas for ferrying poetry far and wide. More we poets take our ware around in the face of injustice, discrimination, ignorance and passivity, the more the world might be a better place to live.
You have the experience of teaching creative writing at Rutgers University. Do you think there are particular norms that a poet should follow to write something we call as — a really good poem?
At Rutgers I taught what is called a Composition or a Writing course but it does include some aspects of Creative writing. We taught from fiction, nonfiction, poetry as well graphic comics with suitable examples to illustrate how to write a creative essay.
Well, a poem is either good or very good. A matter of perception largely. But of course poems can be terrible too, in which case it is not a poem! Following a particular norm is never the key to writing a poem of substance. Creative Writing courses simply teach the best models available in writing, not a sure-shot theory. Also, CW allows one to have a nurturing environment where one is among a group of likeminded people. It can get competitive and rigorous but the best education is honest critique and support rather than Facebook-style 'like', etc. A really good poem happens when one is in it. Norms or rules are there to illustrate a point, not to make a poet become a poet. If at all one needs guidance, one advice I give is: read as much as possible, the best from one's contemporaries, the canon, and all that is found.
How important is criticism? How has it played a role in your writing career?
If writing is water, criticism is the vessel where it's contained. Criticism is important to a literary tradition anywhere in the world. For poetry in English in India, I cannot say I see a lot of enriching criticism. Most often, we see book reviews where either there is back-slapping or there is total mayhem. For me criticism is important for the growth of a discipline. Most good critics ought to be also patrons who show the way forward. Hopefully, we'll have more of them soon. For my own writing, I've accepted critical inputs from both friends and strangers, young commentators as well as older and established mentors. For me it's only meant a better understanding of the craft of poetry writing.
Don’t you feel there are less opportunities for youngsters— when it comes to Indian English poetry? How would you advice young ambitious poets to perceive ‘rejection’?
I'll respond to the second part first. Rejection is not the end of the world. All writers big or small get rejections. It's a part of the learning process. I know some poets who fear rejection so much that they confess taking recourse to self-publishing to avert their sense of loss. I say, each rejection hardens your will to do better. Because, if you are a committed writer, nothing will stop you.
These days I believe there are ample opportunities for young poets writing in English in India. The journals are more in number and so are the web zines. Apart from the major known publishers, there are several new small publishers on the scene now. Social media has made it easier for new voices to be heard. In fact, publishers and editors too are scouting for new writers from social media forums.
Almost no big publishing house plays a serious role in promoting poetry in India. Those who do, lack good editors and funding. How can this situation be improved?
There is poetry from big publishing houses. But mostly by those that are senior in the poetry fraternity. Those that are known as icons. Newer and younger poets might need more time to be spotted by these prominent publishers. But we now have a decent crop of indie publishers who are showing interest in poetry. I cannot comment on funding available to these new publishing ventures. As for good editorial help, perhaps one can expect better. There's self-publishing too but I feel it's always good to have another set of eyes evaluating your work.
Do you believe poets should believe in the ‘Less is more’ theory or they should be free from preconceived ideas while penning?
Is there a "less is more" theory? Writing comes when it comes and in the forms that are spontaneous to the mood of the poet. That doesn't mean one will not premeditate and write a sonnet or a villanelle or a haiku. The less or more in terms of line length, words, or rhyme scheme will depend on what one chooses to write.
Considering poetry as naive, do you feel there has to be some inspiration for writing poetry?
Not sure if I understand what is meant by "naive" here. Inspiration is a weak expression for me. Of course there's a trigger, a sudden flash upon that "inward eye", or pure serendipity. As a poet I seldom get inspired, but I revel in the found-ness, in the moment of ecstasy when an idea strikes. Not always daffodils. It could be Kamala Das' eunuchs and more.
What are you currently reading? If you go for a retreat, which books would you prefer to carry with you and why? When would we get to read your next book of poems or prose?
I'm reading a bunch of new Indian poets alongside my all time favorites Milosz, Szymborska, Hass, Kolatkar, Hoshang Merchant, and K Satchidanandan. There are many more of course. I usually carry as few books as I can when I travel but try to find a library where I can go read. Or a bookshop. There's my Norton anthology which I like to keep alongside for leafing through, but even that's a fat volume. So quite often I like reading poetry online from various beautifully curated poetry sites.
My third volume of poetry should be out this year hopefully. Don't have any dates yet.
