Give the sea change By Eunice de Souza in Mumbai Mirror, 29 November http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=14&articleid=1128200522395256211282005223634390
After a stint in the US, poet Jeet Thayil decides to settle in Delhi Bombay-based poet, and one-time Literary Editor of the magazine Gentleman, Jeet Thayil has decided to settle in Delhi. He's just completed work on an anthology of Indian poets writing in English in different parts of the world, Fiji, Hong Kong, Australia, the US, the UK and India. "It's a simple idea," Jeet says, "but for some reason it hadn't been done before. The anthology, titled Give the Sea Change and It Shall Change: Fifty-six Indian Poets 1952-2005, runs into 300 pages, and includes very good, very young Indian-American poets and most of the obvious older names." He is also editing an issue of The Journal of Post-Colonial Writing. "The theme is that 'diaspora' which has become an industry in some parts of the world-may be an obsolete concept in an age of frequent air travel." Jeet returned some time ago from New York where he was reading for an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. Asked why he wanted to do an academic study of American poetry when he was already so widely read in it, he said, "I wanted to study American poetry in a formal way because I read a lot of it, over three decades, in a very informal way. The thing I valued most about the course was that for two years my work was to think, talk, write poetry. That kind of immersion does something to you that doesn't happen otherwise. I improved tremendously as a writer because of that experience and I continue to. As much as anything, it was hanging out with poets that made a difference to me. A teacher and friend, Tom Lux told me about Bill Knott, whose life should be a lesson to everyone. Until last year, Knott was publishing his own work, and he used to include the rejection letters he'd received from editors, as blurbs in his books. Or Jack Gilbert, a great poet who is still virtually unknown, whose readings are rare, precious events. Or my friend, the poet and editor Philip Nikolayev, whose magazine Fulcrum is probably the best poetry magazine currently available in the US." "I learnt also by doing readings in public very often, and from performing poems with a band called Bombay Down, named after an imaginary train. I read all over the place, with and without the band, at literary venues and night-clubs, at bars, at festivals. Performing hones you, it makes you think calmly, like a professional, and why shouldn't poets be as professional about their craft as, say, musicians or brain surgeons? Living in Manhattan gives you access to a poetry culture that is unimaginable elsewhere — in a good month in New York City, you can see, and meet, more good poets that you would in a year in other parts of the world." "After the degree at Sarah Lawrence, I took up a job with an Indian newspaper in Manhattan, and became one of an army of writers/actors/musicians in the city who worked a day job to fund the real job. Except, of course, that eventually it's the day job that defines you, and I got tired of defining myself as a journalist. So I'm back in India. I don't have a job, but I've done more writing in the last year than I did in the last five years." "Yes, of course, people all over have to work to live, but in the US work becomes pre-eminent. Health insurance, filing taxes, paying bills are so momentous, so consequential that it takes all your time and energy. Life in India is more relaxed. It's possible to live here without selling yourself too much." * Eunice de Souza, who has introduced many to the delights of the English language, writes on books, reading and writing * In a good month in New York City, you can see, and meet, more good poets that you would in a year in other parts of the world ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/yqIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -- You are encouraged to post poetry, respond critically to the poems circulated and participate in discussions. To post, email your message to ZESTPoets@yahoogroups.com OR post online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/post/ Tell friends to subscribe to ZESTPoets by sending a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if they have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/join/ ---theZESTcommunity-------------- [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ --- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
