Many of India’s best known women poets, as well as some of its less familiar ones are to be found in this landmark volume of 54 women poets from ten languages. Its rich and varied selection presents a feast of poetry in translations that are remarkable for their fidelity and poetic rendering. An experience of womanhood may be the locus of this anthology, but modes of expression vary by circumstance. Some speak of the pain of husbands and the love of children, others of a lover’s touch, and the value of mothers, work, and writing. Their voices are tinged, or ringing, with joy or anger, frustration or satisfaction, regret or ironic resignation. The collection includes Kamala Das, Gauri Deshpande, Mandakranta Sen, Malika Amar Sheikh, Mamang Dai, Salma, Savithri Rajeevan, among others.
