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peeled
by Subhadassi
Subhadassi's first full-length poetry collection makes an immediate impact. It abounds in exquisitely-drawn images in which family, friends, memories, historical figures and events, and real and imagined locations and landscapes, come into sharp focus.
The poet savours the detail and 'flavour' of what he holds before him. Indeed, the poet likens this collection to a feast with "enough food to keep a person going for at least a week-end... and enough emotional juice and existential questioning to give them something to think about..."
Subhadassi is a practising Buddhist and much of his poetry is imbued with the texture of Buddhism although the poet rarely confronts it head on. There is a compassion, honesty, humour, tenderness and sensuousness about these poems which makes them both eminently readable and strikingly memorable.
...a variety of voices and styles, from the demotic to the sonorous. ...takes a small object, turns it over and views it with a freshness, giving an unexpected emotional impact... covers broader topics with insight that is both powerful and delicate.
...a profoundly serious book it is never in the slightest bit earnest. It positively sparkles with wit... a playfulness with images and conceits... the poet transacts his business with a wry, spare humour. This is a spirited and sparky book...
A street-wise and sensual, mature and generous debut
Paperback
66 pages
ISBN 1 900072 87 4
Published May 2004
