Matwaala Poetry Pageant Celebrates Poets of the South Asian Diaspora

Matwaala, or matwala, is a Hindi phrase that refers to somebody who’s drunk. Enjoyable occasions. The phrase has additionally taken on the which means of somebody who’s carefree. This latter which means is the one taken on by Matwaala: The South Asian Diaspora Poets’ Collective.

Prompted by co-editing a undertaking for Muse India: The Literary ejournal , a journal that options Indian English writing, Usha Akella and several other poets within the American poetry scene created the Matwaala Poetry Pageant. These poets wished to proceed to provoke and assist tasks involving Diaspora poets and artists. Matwaala got here to be in 2015 involving the poets Saleem Peeradina, Pramila Venkateswaran (the pageant’s co-director), Ravi Shankar, Sasha Parmasad, and Varsha Saraiya Shah. The group’s poets have origins that return to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, they usually at the moment reside in North America and the UK.

Matwaala promotes a number of endeavors. They provide youth boards and panel discussions. In addition they curate readings, most lately at NYU, Hunter Faculty, and Nassau Neighborhood Faculty in 2019. The studying at NCC is the place I first discovered the pageant. Its co-director, Pramila Venkateswaran, is my colleague who introduced the poets to campus for a studying for our Lit, Reside! Sequence.

Take a look at among the poetry collections authored by poets concerned on this pageant.

Usha Akella

Usha Akella, the founder and co-director of the pageant, has seen a number of books of poetry printed together with a musical drama. Her poetry collections embody Rosary of Latitudes. Her work has been included within the Harper Collins Anthology of Indian English Poets.

Pramila Venkateswaran

Pramila Venkateswaran, co-director of the pageant, has seven printed collections of poetry. She served as Poet Laureate of Suffolk County, Lengthy Island, from 2013 to 2015. Her most up-to-date assortment is The Singer of Alleppey.

Abhay Ok.

Abhay Ok. serves on the Matwaala advisory workforce. He has authored eight poetry collections and has recorded his poetry for the Library of Congress in Washington D. C. The Eight-eyed Lord of Kathmandu is one in every of his more moderen collections.

Yogesh Patel

Yogesh Patel additionally on the advisory workforce and is the Poet of Honor for 2019. His publications embody a kids’s e-book, a Hindi phrase e-book, and several other poetry collections in each English and Gujarati. Considered one of his collections in English is Swimming With Whales.

Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar is one other advisory workforce member. He has printed and edited many collections and has gained a number of prizes for his personal work. His most up-to-date publication is The Many Makes use of of Mint: New and Chosen Poems 1997–2017.

Yow will discover many different voices and kinds in MAPS. Edited by Zilka Joseph and Pramila Venkateswaran, MAPS is the Matwaala Anthology of Poetry from South Asia. It incorporates works from poets who’ve been concerned with the pageant from its 2015 inception to at present.