Lotus Gatherers

by Amali Rodrigo

Amali Rodrigo’s first collection is marked by a sense of being on a threshold between worlds. In South and East Asian religious symbolism, the lotus flower embodies the promise of purity and transcendence because it rises clear out of the muddy mire of its origins. It represents both abstract realms and the concrete phenomenal world. The lotus root is also an aphrodisiac.

Whether these poems are concerned with relationships, customs and superstition, war and its aftermath, the fabular or simply a piece of driftwood, they question scale, geographical and emotional distances, and our habitual gaze.

At the heart of the collection are her multi-voiced Aftersongs exploring the nature of the male gaze, religious didacticism and artistic inspiration. This epigrammatic sequence is based on the ekphrastic graffiti-poems inscribed between the 8th and 10th centuries at a royal pleasure palace and fortress in Sri Lanka, addressing the frescoes of the beautiful ‘cloud maidens’.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2016

About the author

Amali Rodrigo was born and grew up in Sri Lanka. She has lived in Mozambique, Kenya and India, and is now based in London, researching a PhD while working as an associate lecturer at Lancaster University. She won the Magma judge's prize and second prize in the Poetry London poetry competition, both in 2012, and has been highly commended in numerous others including the Bridport, Ballymalore International and Wasafiri poetry prizes. Her first collection, Lotus Gatherers, is published by Bloodaxe in 2016.