[Gulf Goans] Poetry Session Held to Commemorate Death Anniversary of Dom Moraes

Sat, 04 Jun 2005 10:30:28 -0700

News -- Mumbai: Poetry Session Held to Commemorate Death Anniversary of Dom Moraes
 

Report and pics by Ancy Paladka - for Daijiworld News Network, Mumbai

Mumbai, Jun 3: An analysis and session on the poems of a renowned Indian journalist and poet, the late Dom Moraes, was held on June 2 in the Theosophy Hall at Fort here. Ranjit Hoskote,  Jerry Pinto and Savio Lobo presented an appreciative analysis of Dom Moraes' poetry to his fans who had gathered.

Dominic Francis Moraes - better known to everyone as just Dom Moraes - was an eminent Indian journalist and poet. He was born in Bombay in 1938. He was the son of Frank Moraes, an illustrious Indian newspaper editor and author. He spent the most part of his childhood abroad. His mother, Dr. Beryl Moraes, suffered from mental instability when he was a young boy, so Dom accompanied his father on jaunts to Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Britain.

Moraes was only 12 years old when he first started writing poetry. By the time he was 15, W H Auden had read and liked his poems. Stephen Spender and Karl Shapiro published them in "Encounter " and in "Poetry Chicago".

At 19, he got published "A Beginning,",  his maiden book of poems, by the Parton Press in London. The book won Britain's Hawthornden Prize for the Best Work of Imagination in 1958. Moraes was the youngest, and the first non-English person, to win this award.

Over the next half a century, Moraes became one of India's leading literary figures. He published more than 30 books, including a biography of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, several travelogues, two memoirs and scripts for more than 20 documentaries, which were aired on the BBC and Britain's ITV.

Moraes visited more or less every country on the planet, except Antarctica (which he liked to note was not actually a country). As a journalist, he covered wars in Algeria, Israel and Vietnam; as an editor, he worked with magazines in London, Hong Kong and New York.

In 1960, his second collection, "Poems," was recognized as  the Autumn Choice of the Poetry Book Society. In 1965 his third book of verse, "John Nobody" came to win much critical acclaim. Besides these three volumes, he published a pamphlet of verse, "Beldam and Others" in 1967. In 1983 he published a privately printed book of poems, "Absences". In 1987 his "Collected Poems" appeared in print. He continued to publish, in the process bringing out "In Cinnamon Shade", "Typed With One Finger" and "Collected Poems",  appeared in 2004, the year of his death. He died on June 2, 2004 of a heart attack, at 66.


Ranjit Hoskote, Jerry Pinto and Savio Lobo analysing and reading the poems of Dom Moraes

Only few months before his death Moraes was diagnosed as suffering from cancer. Well aware that his life was left with limited time, he declined treatment and focused all his energy on completing his final books.

As true homage to this great personality, his death anniversary was observed in a meaningful way by his fans by analysing his poems.



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