PROLIFERA IX
EDITORIAL
As Shelley famously wrote: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” It is spring, and all over India folks are celebrating Poila Boisakh, Rongili Bihu, Vishu. Spring implies being rejuvenated and reborn, and EKL Review infuses a shot of life to your reading with poetry, book reviews, book excerpts, and features. Moreover, February 21 was International Language Day, and EKL Review pays tribute to multifarious tongues by including works in Hindi and Bengali this time, and cuts across cultural subtexts, such as Kinshuk Gupta’s LGBTQ masterpiece, “Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chordarwaja.” We have featured, amongst other literary pieces, a selection from India’s first gogyoka collection, Rajorshi Patranabis’ “The Last Drop of My Tears.”
Spring/new beginnings is the best time to practice gratitude. I am immensely grateful to editor and poet Nikita Parik, without whose ideas and contribution this issue would have been a poor replica of itself. Nikita is currently at University of Stirling on a Charles Wallace Fellowship. Nikita’s dedication is unparalleled: she did a chunk of the editorial work from the airport on her way to Scotland, and some of it from Stirling, making herself available even during odd hours of the day, despite the time lag. She is our pride and joy. I am also grateful to Anindita Bose for her invaluable help in putting this issue together, Sufia Khatoon for her constant support and motivation, and last but not the least, our EIC Amit Shankar Saha for constantly pushing us to do our best. Gratitude is also due to our excellent team of prospectors who are as essential to us as water to fishes.
And how can I forget you, our poets, authors, and readers? You are the soul without which we would not exist. As long as you are there, we will continue to enchant you with our luminous pages.
Jagari Mukherjee
Chief Executive Editor
April 2023
1. Gayatri Majumdar- 1 poem – Swallowing My Tongue
2. Shikhandin – 2 poems – Kathali Champa, Moth
3. Jesus Sepulveda – 1 poem – White Dragon in the Snow
4. Shamayita Sen – 3 poems (book feature)
5. Rajorshi Patranabis – 5 gogyoka (book feature)
6. Gopal Lahiri – 5 poems (book feature)
7. Poonam Sonchhatra – 3 poems (book feature)
8. Hindol Bhattacharjee – 5 poems
9. Daipayan Nair – 1 Tanka
10. Basudhara Roy – 1 poem – Night
11. Nivedita Dey- 1 poem – Rime of the Modern Pasiphae
12. Anam Tariq – 1 poem – Why
13. William Doreski – 1 poem- Flag in the Breeze
14. Carol D’Souza – 1 poem – History
15. Pawel Markiewicz – 1 poem – Gods and Goddesses
1. Aditi Yadav: Book Review – The Phantom Tollbooth
2. Sreemati Mukherjee: Essay on Anirban Bhattacharya’s “Berubar Poth Nei”
3. Aakriti Kuntal: Book Review – Costumes of the Living
4. Kabir Deb: Book Review – The Hymn of Dry Tongues And Brave Hearts
5. Kinshuk Gupta – Book Excerpt – Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chordarwaja
6. Maurizio Brancaleoni – Fiction – Bu(l)be’s Girlfriend
7. Madhu Sriwastav – Book Excerpt – Post Box No. 203 Nala Sopara