Pappaji Wrote Poetry in a Language I Cannot Read

by Rajinderpal S. Pal

The poems in this book form a narrative whole that leaps between past and present, between childhood and adulthood, and between languages. Issues of cross-cultural politics and relationships are addressed, and loss across generations and migrations across continents. All of this is entwined with the search for the poet-father and the attempt to come to terms with the past. "These poems travel continents, move through emotional and political geograpies of leaving and longing. From India to England to Canada, Rajinderpal S Pal searches for his poet father's legacy in language and body. Textured and sensuous, challenging in form and content, these poems invite us to hold them." - Roberta Rees

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went through this book as I was compiling works for a course on transnational poetry in Canada. Its awareness of the cultural tug of war that exists between languages and nations and poetries, with the quicksilver shift in expectations that accompanies that tension, remains profound for me. Read this book.