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This first-of-its-kind anthology showcases an array of the top poets (130 contributors) of this vast Asian region. The book contains the stylistically diverse Chinese poets Lian Yang, Liu Hongbin, Wang Ping and others who share a perspective on their homeland; the oriental touch of the Korean Chung Hee Moon and the Japanese Yosuke Tanaka; Maram al-Masri’s Franco- Syrian metaphors; Sholeh Wolpe’s Iranian-Americanisms, Rosa Jamali’s postcolonial lens on the Middle East; Nese Yasin’s bipolar/ binary Cypriot-Turk registers; politically urgent poetry from the Israeli-Palestinian region by Amir Or, Hava Pinhas-Cohen, Gili Haimovich and others; Paul Hetherington and Cassandra Atherton’s supple art of prose poetry lending a unique Australian colour and diction; the exploration of the rich American and British South Asian diaspora by Moniza Alvi, Vidyan Ravinthiran, Indran Amirthanayagam and Ahilan Packiyanathan; the irony of Kaiser Haq and romanticism of Aminur Rahman from Bangladesh; the magic of the Urdu/Hindustani cadence by India’s Gulzar and Javed Akhtar; Kunwar Narain’s wise philosophical Hindi diction; Adil Jussawalla’s ironic and sparse Mumbai cosmopolitanism and Jayanta Mahapatra deeply-rooted Oriyan metaphors. The signposts are just the tip of the iceberg, acting as a teaser and taste of what you will find inside this volume — in addition to the new/upcoming voices that make the book balanced and truly contemporary. Enjoy the rich and vibrant poetic landscape of Asia.

Pre-order: The Best Asian Poetry 2021-22 (Edited by Sudeep Sen)

The Best Asian Poetry 2021-22 (Edited by Sudeep Sen)

…In a moment of Naivety,

it seeks release from the grips of fatigue

lest it remains elusive, lost in a lament

of miscellaneous things.

Between sips of Masala Chai is a foray into a homemaker’s aromatic and often chaotic journey to catch a glimpse of herself while she navigates through the assorted roles.

The routine of sitting down with a cup of maslala chai is a gateway to the poet’s inner world and is a welcome interlude during the daily hum of activities. In the flux of domesticity, relationships, travel, nostalgia and loss, the poems interact converge and spill over one another with subtle irony and tenderness and emerge in an unexpected confluence similar to flavours brimming in her cup of masala chai.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shilpa Dikshit Thapliyal is a former computer professional turned home-maker turned writer who often refers to herself as the ‘accidental poet’. Amidst the endless grocery runs, school volunteering and chapatti making, she manages to squeeze in a verse or two. Her poems have been published in journals and anthologies in Singapore, India and the USA. She has self published her debut collection of poems titled 'Chimes of the Soul' (Singapore,2015). Shilpa resides in Singapore with her family. 

 

Between Sips of Masala Chai by Shilpa Dikshit Thapliyal

All the Shades of Truth, written during the pandemic, uses a new poetic lingua franca to delve into fatigue and isolation. The poet uses metaphors like Fibonacci Retracements and Tulipomania to put a lens on the twins of fear and greed that just do not seem to go away. Daswani’s poetry covers important world socio-political events: Never Forget is a paean to the heroes of 9/11 and Juneteenth an anthem for the emancipation of the enslaved. He uses haikus to write about Deepavali and his modern take on the Hindu marriage ritual Saptapadi is a first. His poems also reinterpret Greek myths and the great Indian epics.

All the Shades of Truth suggests that truth lies within interstitial greyness and is the sum of all perceptions. For the poet these perceptions are informed by a multi-sensory exploration of the opposites around him and the ever-present hope that lies at the frontier of despair.

Neil Daswani is a Singaporean author with an international background. He is a banker by day and a poet by night who now writes poetry prolifically and often in tandem with artists. 

All The Shades of Truth by Neil Daswani

The poems in this book were written over three decades and needed to be shared, before they moved away into redshift. Many of these poems are about love, both lost and found. This eclectic volume has something for every reader: verses about the balm and beauty of nature, high school physics, humour and occasionally the surreal. More recent poems explore the emptiness around Covid-19 or grieving and the hope that lies beyond. 

Neil Daswani is a Singaporean author with an international background. He is a banker by day and a poet by night who now writes poetry prolifically and often in tandem with artists. 

Redshift by Neil Daswani 