Out of Sri Lanka: Tamil, Sinhala and English Poetry from Sri Lanka and its Diasporas

Out of Sri Lanka: Tamil, Sinhala and English Poetry from Sri Lanka and its Diasporas
Edited by Vidyan Ravinthiran, Seni Seneviratne, Shash Trevett.
Penguin Random House.
Pages 424. Rs 599

The first-ever anthology of Sri Lankan and diasporic poetry written after the country attained independence, ‘Out of Sri Lanka’ throws light upon a long-neglected national literature. It features over a hundred poets writing in English, or translated from Tamil and Sinhala. Poets long out of print appear beside exciting new talents; there are works written in the country as also poetry from the UK, the US, Canada and Australia. Poems in traditional and in open forms, concrete poems, spoken word poems, and experimental post-lyric hybrids of poetry and prose, appear with an introduction on Sri Lankan history.

Feasting, Healing: Reclaiming Your Life through Cooking
by Jhilmil Breckenridge.
Speaking Tiger.
Pages 464. Rs 499

Cooking is therapeutic, we often hear. Reiterating that, and how, is ‘Feasting, Healing’, a collection of essays, stories and poetry from people who have actually been healed via cooking. Payal Kapoor, blinded at 22, began cooking with the help of recipes in Braille. Mihir, born with athetoid cerebral palsy, dishes up aloo chat, dosa and Chinese fried rice. War zone photographer Giles Duley found solace from depression in cooking. Abusive marriage, biopolar disorder, struggling to make a mark in foreign lands… food has brought focus and stability to the lives of many. An inspiring read.