Acrobat
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Acrobat
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Narrated by:
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Nandana Sen
About this listen
A deeply humane new collection by a luminary of Bengali literature
A radiant collection of poetry about womanhood, intimacy, and the body politic that together evokes the arc of an ordinary life. Nabaneeta Dev Sen's rhythmic lines explore the joys and agonies of first love, childbirth, and decay with a restless, tactile imagination, both picking apart and celebrating the rituals that make us human. When she warns, "know that blood can be easily drawn by lips", her words tune to the fierce and biting depths of language, to the "treachery that lingers on tongue tips". At once compassionate and unsparing, conversational and symphonic, these poems tell of a rope shivering beneath an acrobat's nimble feet or of a twisted, blood-soaked umbilical cord - they pluck the invisible threads that bind us together.
©2021 Nabaneeta Dev Sen and Nandana Sen (P)2021 Random House AudioCritic Reviews
"Acrobat offers a window, not only into the reach and emotional depth of Nabaneeta-di's work (and the riches of contemporary Bengali literature) but into her influence as a feminist too . . . Nabaneeta-di's poems claim the world, and all that's in it – love, motherhood, the body, politics and myths from all over." --Nilanjana Roy, Financial Times
"Nandana’s own contribution to the collection, 'A Letter to Ma,' is full of childhood recollections, including one in which she tells her mother, 'You’re the most beautiful person in the world!' causing her mother to laugh out loud. She replies, 'Every little girl believes that about their mother'—so wise and so true." --Samantha Schnee, Words Without Borders
"Nandana’s excellent translations privilege the musicality and rhythm of the language, retaining, in some cases, the internal rhymes. Most of the poems are quite brief: dense jewels surrounded by white space. As I describe them, I find myself reaching again and again for words like clarity, honesty, brilliance. But I think the word I am really searching for is freedom." --Shruti Swamy, Los Angeles Review of Books