Failure to appreciate its literary stars exposes weakness in Kashmir’s civil society
Ignored by natives, Kashmiri poets feature in International Anthology
Srinagar: Language for a New Century — Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond, a recent anthology of eastern poetry published by a renowned international publisher W.W. Norton & Co, for the first time includes poems by many Kashmiri poets.
According to reports, the anthology was launched in a series of celebrations in many US cities including New York and Hartford. The anthology celebrates the artistic and cultural forces flourishing today in the East, bringing together an unprecedented selection of works by over 400 unique voices-political and apolitical, monastic and erotic, established and emerging. The anthology includes poems by Kashmiri poets Amin Kamil, Rehman Rahi and Rafiq Raaz. The selection was provided by Muneebur Rahman who edits a Kashmiri literary magazine Neab from Boston.
“It’s for the first time that Kashmiri poets are featured in an international anthology,” says Muneeb. “The anthology includes poems from about 60 nationalities, wildly divergent cultures and voices.”
The collection is edited by three promising American poets: Palestinian poet Nathalie Handal who was educated in London and Paris and lives in New York; native New Yorker Tina Chang who grew up, in part, in Taiwan; and Connecticut resident Ravi Shankar who was born and raised in India. The 734-page anthology includes 35 poets from India. “I had originally recommended more Kashmiri poets but due to limited space I had to drop some,” explains Muneeb. “I regret Dinanath Nadim’s ‘Candy and Absinth’ was dropped from the selection at a later stage during a review by a professor at the Kashmir University.”
The anthology features Rahman Rahi’s poem “Redemption,” translated by Shafi Shauq, Amin Kamil’s ghazal “In Water,” and Rafiq Raaz’s poem “Seven Sparks,” both translated by Muneebur Rahman.
(Report from the Daily Etalaat)