At the Time of Partition

by Moniza Alvi

This book-length poem is set at the time of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 when thousands of people were killed in civil unrest and millions displaced, with families later split between the two countries. Inspired by family history, Moniza Alvi weaves a deeply personal story of fortitude and courage, as well as of tragic loss, in this powerful work in 20 parts.
At the Time of Partition is Moniza Alvi's first new poetry book since her T.S. Eliot Prize-shortlisted collection Europa, published in 2008 at the same time as Split World: Poems 1990-2005.
'Alvi...takes a historical journey as the structure for this narrative poem. The year is 1947 – the year of Partition – and a family is forced to leave their home in Ludhiana for Lahore... Alvi captures the trauma of a nation in this slim, exquisitely mournful story of departure, migration and the uncertain feelings of settling in a new country...' - Arifa Akbar, Independent
'The volume consists of 20 poems which flow into each other to create a single haunting and lyrical narrative, welding the personal and the public. The result is a stunning, skilled and controlled work of immense grandeur...At the Time of Partition is a truly extraordinary collection, a work which succeeds in being spare, compelling and timeless. Furthermore, for the subcontinental reader, it captures a moment of time, a memory, so visceral that it has an extraordinary power. This book should not be missed.' - Moneeza Shamsie, Dawn (Pakistan)
'One of the few British poets whose work could currently be described as essential reading, not least as we try to grasp what fractures of cultural difference might have contributed to the 7 July bombings.' - Tim Robertson, Magma.

T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry - Shortlist 2013

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Pakistan

63 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2013

About the author

Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and came to England when she was a few months old. She grew up in Hertfordshire and studied at the universities of York and London.

Peacock Luggage, a book of poems by Moniza Alvi and Peter Daniels, was published as a result of the two poets jointly winning the Poetry Business Prize in 1991. Since then, Moniza Alvi has written six poetry collections: The Country at My Shoulder (1993), which was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award, and which led to her being selected for the Poetry Society's New Generation Poets promotion; A Bowl of Warm Air (1996), one of the Independent on Sunday's Books of the Year; Carrying My Wife (2000), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation; Souls (2002); How the Stone Found its Voice (2005), inspired by Kipling's Just So Stories and Europa(2008), a Poetry Book Society Choice and shortlisted for the TS Eliot prize. Also published in 2008 Split World includes poems from her first five collections.

Moniza's latest publication is Homesick for the Earth (2011) selected poems by the French poet Jules Supervielle with versions by Moniza Alvi.


Moniza Alvi now tutors for the Poetry School and lives in Norfolk. In 2002 she received a Cholmondeley Award for her poetry.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry making art of unspeakable history!

Moniza Alvi's voice penetrates deep layers underneath the official statistics of the event that separated Pakistan and India into two different states and set whole populations on the move in two directions, leaving everything behind to settle where the majority of their fellow believers happened to live. The tragedy of that time is described in vivid colours, from multiple angles, but focusing on the sorrow of losing one part of your heart to reconcile another one. A novel-like poem in twenty parts, it sings a silent song of the line drawn by a British administrator:

"He did it as fast as he was able, in the time it takes to sort out a school timetable".

The consequences are more far-reaching than a school timetable, however:

"It lies helplessly, wrong side up
like a turtle showing its underside -

the family story. Is it there for the taking?"

There is no heroism in the journey, just worry, suffering, unknown dangers, uncomfortable travel reality:

"So they took the bus

which wasn't in any respect

a magic carpet-
though colours swirled

beneath the dirt on its sides.
It groaned and rattled

and smelled of pressed-in bodies
and garum masala and incense.

Did it smell more strongly
of the future or the past?

Would there ever be another day
as bland as chapatti?

Would a day ever sing?"

Arriving is almost surreal as well. Assigned a house of a family who has gone on the journey in the other direction, the fictional family in the poem can compare and contrast what they left behind and what they found on arrival, and they can't help thinking of the people who might evaluate their own old home on the other side of the line, arriving just like they themselves, uprooted, disillusioned, full of memories:

"Don't look back -
That's what people said.

But these very words
could prompt her to turn around
sharply,
to try to glimpse

what was happening all those miles
behind her,

and to say another goodbye."

The ancient story of Orpheus and Eurydice comes to mind, you turn around, look back, look at the past and know it is lost, but still there to be mourned forever. In the end, the crossing of the border is only possible through literature, poetry, artistic reflection, and the long poem-story closes with a strong case for the transcending power of words:

Crossing Back

The line between birth and non-being.

the line between what happened
and the imagining.

A line so delicate a sparrow might have
picked it up in its beak.

A line of writing.

A line so definite -
And so blurred.

Time to return the unending story
to itself.

Time to return everyone to themselves.

Time to cross swiftly back
over the line."

This is one of the most beautiful poems I have ever read on the private and personal experience of loss during the partition. The pain of WHAT IF is dramatically present all the time. If we had chosen differently, would he still be with us?

Guilt and memory are crucial parts of the poem.

Feeling guilty at a situation you can't control.
Not wanting to remember what is painful but makes out all your past.
Identity issues that remain unsolved the way the thin line of the border remains disputed.

Brilliant! A truly astonishing voice in contemporary poetry!

[azz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did a beautiful job at contextualizing the effects of partition within the lives of just one family

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a small book with just one long poem. It is not at all hard to read. I’ve read poems (maybe especially the long ones) in the past that had me re-reading the same lines to catch the meaning… not always a bad thing. Set in the time of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. This poem very artfully deals with loss. Reading this, you might shed a tear or two.

[Nasim Marie Jafry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking and gorgeous distillation of the hell of Partition and the loss of a child.

[Anisha]

(dis)placed and lost and an attempt to rehome around an absence, building from a prayer. the end made is rightfully continuous and present
not in a poetry place rn, ig more Epicy storytelling

[Faaiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very moving and poignant. I think it does well in capturing the essence of what it must be like to be going through Partition. The narrative of loss, dread, and hope allows one to transport themselves to those times. A very heartfelt effort by the author indeed.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by The Independent (23 Nov 2013)

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly poignant. Beautiful. Heartbreaking.

[Andy Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent little book that very neatly sums up the personal impact and experience of partition through the eyes and heart of a mother. Beautifully written and very moving.