First of all, I’d like to welcome you to Quills, a space dedicated to literature, music, culture, and interviews with artists, writers, musicians… people who develop creative activities.
Today a very special and talented guest is taking the quill to show us a part of the literature which is far away from the Western countries.
She is Pratyusha Sarkar, an Indian poet, writer, and novelist, born on January 15th, 1995. Her first poetry book was published in 2018, the second one in 2019 and the third is "Iswar Thodi Na Dekhchen" which has gained much popularity in Kolkata International Book Fair 2020. Her recent storybook "Bristi Ranger Nakchabi" is published to contribute the amount for the attack of COVID-19 and Amphan in Kolkata. One of her popular works, especially in social media is "Anticlock" a dark psychological thriller novel written in facebook in this lockdown period. She has written in several well-known Bengali and English magazines throughout India. Besides writing she is a well-known voice artist. Rabindranath Tagore is her only inspiration.
1. When did you start to write poetry? How did you realize that you wanted to write?
It was 2009, I was in 9th standard and started my pen for poetry. Actually, I wanted to eruct the catharsis... The way I look upon the world, the way I think about people and society must come in light. I think poetry has a sort of taste that can help the purgation come out. Poetry is my love, my protest, my emotion where I sleep, walk, eat, and dream. Poetry is not a statement but a discovery.
2. What are your main influences when writing?
My family has had a great influence on me since I was a child. My mom is a teacher of a school and my dad does a government service. After coming from school and the office both of them start rehearsing recitation. They have also been engaged in theatre for thirty years. I'm very lucky to have a cultural family. From my childhood I listened to them, I imitated them, and also heard so many stories and poetries every day from my granny before coming to bed. West Bengal is the richest place in India regarding its culture. Rabindranath Tagore, the first nobel laureate from India in literature is my inspiration and muse.
3. What is poetry for you and what role you think it plays in people’s lives?
For me, poetry is just like to discover a new world. I like to pen poetry by giving up the actual definition to inflect a new dimension. Poetry is an obsession and one of my daily needs. I can express reality as well as the subconscious world through it.
I think that people cherish poetry when they write. They write what they observe. Poetry is a spontaneous and critical thinking. It is not possible for everyone to express their feelings by writing poetry. Poetry needs to be worshipped and practiced like mathematics.
4. How is your writing process? Where does the inspiration come from? Who are your muses?
I basically work in deconstruction through construction. I like to write in an open-ended form. Abstract poetry is most attractive to write and read but when I play the role of voice artist I obviously choose easy poems which the mass can understand.
I've got this inspiration from the romantic poets like Wordsworth, Blake, Keats and from Jacobean poet Shakespeare also, moreover I like his tragedies... I like the way he has played with various words in his writings. I don't imitate him, but I follow his way of psychological analyses, ascribed in his characters. Apart from these poets Jone Donne, W.B. Yeats, Robert Frost, Rudyard Kipling, Sylvia Plath inspire me. I love to read English more though my ink flows mostly for my mother tongue Bengali. Rabindranath Tagore, Sunil Gangopadhya, Mallika Sengupta play a great role in me by their outstanding works.
5. Tell us about the first poem you wrote… and about the last one. How has your style evolved over the years?
I wrote my first poem in the 9th standard. I don't know if that was that a poem or a love letter which I wanted to send to my friend! Jokes apart... My first Bengali poem was published in 2016 in West Bengal (India). It was a personal poem named "Aamar Aami". And my first English poem was published in 2019, on an English journal from Bangalore(India).
The last poem I wrote for an English journal it was last night. I try to write regularly, as writing needs worship.
As I l've said, I can't remember what I've written in my first phase when I started to write. After that, day by day, the construction developed, the words get more matured. And now I'm trying to discover new dimensions in poetry.
6. Can you tell us about the literary scene in India? What are the main difficulties a new writer has to face?
