Interview: Sukrita Paul Kumar and Vinita Agrawal
How did the idea for the yearbook take shape?
Sukrita Paul Kumar: When two poets get together, they inevitably talk poetry. That’s what happened when both of us met for the first time three or four years ago. We discussed how a huge amount of poetry in English was being written and published across the country — anthologies galore, social media flooded with poems, pompous launches of collections, vanity publications — but without any sifting. There were very few discerning critics and readers to filter the better poems from the rest. We decided to create a space for such a selection, using “Yearbook” as the central idea, as done in various other countries. The idea was born, the challenge accepted by both of us, and the process began to crystallize. We didn’t realise the enormity of the task then!
The nature of poetry doesn’t allow the creation of objective pointers to differentiate a good poem from a bad one but poets and editors constantly try to define a “good” poem. What are the elements that attract you to a particular poem?
SPK: We decided not to prescribe any criteria and have a committee of poets take a call on what deserves to be in the Yearbook. We facilitated the process to ensure that the worth of poems was identified by different minds dispassionately. We sent the poems to jurors without the details of who had written them. The interpretation of each poem may be varied by different jurors, but in most cases, they unanimously approved a particular poem. A poem with a soul or a heart of its own usually got across as a well crafted poem too. The balance between the craft and the art, the throb of the experience, and its intimate conversation with the reader seemed to come together to make the poem convincing. The metaphysical aspect, after all, requires a firm ground to stand on.
In the two yearbooks that have appeared so far, there is a mention of the “democratic process” to choose poems. Please take us through the process.
SPK: We were clear that the selection needed to be inclusive of the diversity we see around us. We needed to have many pairs of discerning eyes to read the submissions for this. The members of the selection committee needed to come from diverse backgrounds and age groups. This was worked out consciously. Colossal job! After that was put in place, the process smoothened. The multiple opinions allowed the democratic spirit to permeate into the book.
Two significant anthologies of contemporary Indian Poetry in English have been recently published by major publishing houses. The editors of these books had solicited submissions but you opened the floodgates to a larger number. I particularly liked your decision not to use the word “best” in the title. Were these conscious decisions?
SPK: We opted for an open call precisely because we wanted to give space to all the important, timely voices. The only condition being that the poems submitted to us should be published during the stipulated year.
It was heartening to receive over 700 submissions for this volume of the Yearbook.
Not using the word “best” in the title was also a conscious decision. We didn’t want to be judgmental. We wanted to archive quality Indian poetry written in English each year; that’s all.
In the last yearbook, most poems dealt with the virus and the loneliness that came from being locked in our homes. Those silent moments of rumination while the world writhed in agony fuelled the creative process of many poets. Do you think that a larger theme permeates the poems this time around?
Vinita Agrawal: The pandemic was an unprecedented event of our century. No wonder poets and writers were preoccupied with the theme. However, this year, the content was more varied. This time, poems grapple with imperialism, mental health, childhood traumas, upbringing, ecology and environment, language, prostitution, racism, mythology, identity, sensuality, and spirituality. That said, overtones of the pandemic are visible in this volume too, particularly in personal poems.
A friend with a poem in the last yearbook and in this one too firmly believes that if monetary compensation is not possible, the selected poets should be entitled to a free copy. I understand that it is impossible for small presses to send out copies to all contributors. Most Indian literary journals can’t pay their contributors. The economics of writing, especially poetry, in India is quite distressing. What do you think?
VA: We, as editors, strongly believe that every contributor is and should be entitled to a free copy. However, any publisher, in our case Hawakal, incurs costs to print and distribute the Yearbook. It just isn’t feasible for small publishing houses to hand out free copies. For the editors, compiling the Yearbook is a labour of love. As you can see, it’s a difficult situation. What is desirable and ideal is not commercially viable. We wish there was a sponsorship of some kind to make this happen.
To answer the second part of the question, it would be fair to say that while several magazines and journals do not offer compensation for poetry, many do. Some of these magazines are in India and some are outside. One has to be able to meet the standards of the paying market. It’s about upping the game, writing well enough so that even writing poetry can serve as a source of income.
Most anthologies are theme-specific. A couple of others, like 60 Indian Poets edited by Jeet Thayil or These My Words edited by Eunice De Souza and Melanie Silgardo have been sporadic and focus on more famous poets. The concept of a yearbook, thus, is novel and would go a long way in establishing the aesthetics of Indian English Poetry. What are your thoughts on this?
VA: If we could continue this for five years, certainly, the Yearbook could serve to establish the aesthetics of Indian Poetry in English. It could become a one-stop shop to read quality work written in English by Indians. It could become a reference point for critics who wish to get a sense of the poetry written by Anglophone poets.
There is an abundance of graphic poems this time, and a new section called Beacon Lights. What other additions can we expect in the upcoming yearbooks?
VA: The process of putting the Yearbook together is dynamic and ever evolving. The inclusion of shape poems or concrete poems, as they are called, is not new, however. This year, the concrete poems are rather more distinct due to the innovative efforts of the poets.
The Beacon Lights section is an ode to our veteran poets who’ve paved the way for Indian poetry in English through their work over the years. The amazing thing is that their poems, showcased in the Yearbook, are contemporary pieces, written in this day and age. This marks their continual creativity.
It’s hard to predict right now the additions that we may make to the Yearbook. But one thing is for sure — it will always strive to be a better version of itself every year.
Kinshuk Gupta is the Associate Editor for Usawa Literary Review and the Poetry Editor for Jaggery Lit and Mithila Review.
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How did the idea for the yearbook take shape?
Sukrita Paul Kumar: When two poets get together, they inevitably talk poetry. That’s what happened when both of us met for the first time three or four years ago. We discussed how a huge amount of poetry in English was being written and published across the country — anthologies galore, social media flooded with poems, pompous launches of collections, vanity publications — but without any sifting. There were very few discerning critics and readers to filter the better poems from the rest. We decided to create a space for such a selection, using “Yearbook” as the central idea, as done in various other countries. The idea was born, the challenge accepted by both of us, and the process began to crystallize. We didn’t realise the enormity of the task then!
The nature of poetry doesn’t allow the creation of objective pointers to differentiate a good poem from a bad one but poets and editors constantly try to define a “good” poem. What are the elements that attract you to a particular poem?
SPK: We decided not to prescribe any criteria and have a committee of poets take a call on what deserves to be in the Yearbook. We facilitated the process to ensure that the worth of poems was identified by different minds dispassionately. We sent the poems to jurors without the details of who had written them. The interpretation of each poem may be varied by different jurors, but in most cases, they unanimously approved a particular poem. A poem with a soul or a heart of its own usually got across as a well crafted poem too. The balance between the craft and the art, the throb of the experience, and its intimate conversation with the reader seemed to come together to make the poem convincing. The metaphysical aspect, after all, requires a firm ground to stand on.
In the two yearbooks that have appeared so far, there is a mention of the “democratic process” to choose poems. Please take us through the process.
SPK: We were clear that the selection needed to be inclusive of the diversity we see around us. We needed to have many pairs of discerning eyes to read the submissions for this. The members of the selection committee needed to come from diverse backgrounds and age groups. This was worked out consciously. Colossal job! After that was put in place, the process smoothened. The multiple opinions allowed the democratic spirit to permeate into the book.
Two significant anthologies of contemporary Indian Poetry in English have been recently published by major publishing houses. The editors of these books had solicited submissions but you opened the floodgates to a larger number. I particularly liked your decision not to use the word “best” in the title. Were these conscious decisions?
SPK: We opted for an open call precisely because we wanted to give space to all the important, timely voices. The only condition being that the poems submitted to us should be published during the stipulated year.
It was heartening to receive over 700 submissions for this volume of the Yearbook.
Not using the word “best” in the title was also a conscious decision. We didn’t want to be judgmental. We wanted to archive quality Indian poetry written in English each year; that’s all.
In the last yearbook, most poems dealt with the virus and the loneliness that came from being locked in our homes. Those silent moments of rumination while the world writhed in agony fuelled the creative process of many poets. Do you think that a larger theme permeates the poems this time around?
Vinita Agrawal: The pandemic was an unprecedented event of our century. No wonder poets and writers were preoccupied with the theme. However, this year, the content was more varied. This time, poems grapple with imperialism, mental health, childhood traumas, upbringing, ecology and environment, language, prostitution, racism, mythology, identity, sensuality, and spirituality. That said, overtones of the pandemic are visible in this volume too, particularly in personal poems.
A friend with a poem in the last yearbook and in this one too firmly believes that if monetary compensation is not possible, the selected poets should be entitled to a free copy. I understand that it is impossible for small presses to send out copies to all contributors. Most Indian literary journals can’t pay their contributors. The economics of writing, especially poetry, in India is quite distressing. What do you think?
VA: We, as editors, strongly believe that every contributor is and should be entitled to a free copy. However, any publisher, in our case Hawakal, incurs costs to print and distribute the Yearbook. It just isn’t feasible for small publishing houses to hand out free copies. For the editors, compiling the Yearbook is a labour of love. As you can see, it’s a difficult situation. What is desirable and ideal is not commercially viable. We wish there was a sponsorship of some kind to make this happen.
To answer the second part of the question, it would be fair to say that while several magazines and journals do not offer compensation for poetry, many do. Some of these magazines are in India and some are outside. One has to be able to meet the standards of the paying market. It’s about upping the game, writing well enough so that even writing poetry can serve as a source of income.
Most anthologies are theme-specific. A couple of others, like 60 Indian Poets edited by Jeet Thayil or These My Words edited by Eunice De Souza and Melanie Silgardo have been sporadic and focus on more famous poets. The concept of a yearbook, thus, is novel and would go a long way in establishing the aesthetics of Indian English Poetry. What are your thoughts on this?
VA: If we could continue this for five years, certainly, the Yearbook could serve to establish the aesthetics of Indian Poetry in English. It could become a one-stop shop to read quality work written in English by Indians. It could become a reference point for critics who wish to get a sense of the poetry written by Anglophone poets.
There is an abundance of graphic poems this time, and a new section called Beacon Lights. What other additions can we expect in the upcoming yearbooks?
VA: The process of putting the Yearbook together is dynamic and ever evolving. The inclusion of shape poems or concrete poems, as they are called, is not new, however. This year, the concrete poems are rather more distinct due to the innovative efforts of the poets.
The Beacon Lights section is an ode to our veteran poets who’ve paved the way for Indian poetry in English through their work over the years. The amazing thing is that their poems, showcased in the Yearbook, are contemporary pieces, written in this day and age. This marks their continual creativity.
It’s hard to predict right now the additions that we may make to the Yearbook. But one thing is for sure — it will always strive to be a better version of itself every year.
Kinshuk Gupta is the Associate Editor for Usawa Literary Review and the Poetry Editor for Jaggery Lit and Mithila Review.
Enjoy unlimited digital access with HT Premium
Subscribe Now to continue reading
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