Bearings - Tapa dura

In the words of the poet herself, '"Bearings" began as the only tangible signs of an attempt to stay connected to a language that felt most intimately my own, and yet did not figure in my landscape any more'. Through its three sections, Virga, Damaged Goods and Terra Infirma, Karthika Nair meditates on the intertwined themes of directions, moorings and disclosures, with the multiple meanings and connections inherent in the title itself. Bereavement and absences, the loss of memory and love, concerns about home and identity, find eloquent expression in these evocative poems which the poet likens to a logbook of journeys without any particular destination in mind, with language as shape-shifting map, and the desire to express, to share as the sole, somewhat unreliable, compass.

The author moved to France in 2000 to pursue a master's degree in art management, and stayed in Paris, where she worked at institutions like the Grande halle dela Villette, the cite de la music. Karthika Nair's poems unfold a daring new poetry of our times. Their beauty, force and logic spring from magical zones inhabiting startling new universes. They argue, disturb and scintillate, and hold us in a sensuously subversive grip that is irresistible. - Paul Zacharia * Recognized as a bright, new talent, Karthika Nair has been published before in a number of international journals and anthologies.