Acrobat
by Nabaneeta Dev Sen
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Pub Date 11 May 2021 | Archive Date 4 Apr 2021
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Description
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.
Advance Praise
“Poetry and music are both languages of the heart, so it is a special gift when a great poet of the world is finally well-translated. Here, the legendary Bengali poet, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, is re-birthed in English by her daughter, Nandana Dev Sen. I believe that Acrobat is a book that will rescue us and be loved around the world.”
—Gloria Steinem
"These translations of Nabaneeta Dev Sen's poems capture her quirky yet profound voice so beautifully that I felt I could hear her reading them aloud. These are the poems of an adventurous and indefatigable traveler, observing the world with deep understanding and sympathy, through the prism of a sensibility that is securely rooted in the culture of Bengal."
—Amitav Ghosh
"These sparkling translations from Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s long, important body of work cycle through her (and our own) exigent concerns: time, identity, the familial. Dev Sen is famous for perfecting a remarkably clear syntax that incorporates sensual detail and repetition not as ornament but as the very ingredients of its riveting precision. And she always follows her own prescription: 'Stay awake in every line.'" — Forrest Gande
“One simultaneously hears the voices of mother and daughter in a duet of perfect harmony. The translations don’t read as translations; they read as poems, a new voice perfect in its own right, transcending the barrier of death.”
—Wendy Doniger
“In Nabaneeta Dev Sen's poems, she walks a tightrope between a black cloud and a cloud that is blood-red. When the rope shivers, you, the reader, can feel it in the lines and hold your breath. Good translations of modern Indian poetry are hard to come by. This one by Nandana Dev Sen has to be one of the best.”
— Arvind Krishna Mehrotra
“Nabaneeta Dev Sen's Acrobat is that rare, majestic creature: a book that, through every page, underscores the quiet high-wire act required from the poet. It is a feat whose complexity is only matched by its mastery in inhabiting the multiple selves of artist, daughter, lover, mother, translator, scholar and more. Here are poems that capture the pleasures and trials of the human experience - desire, decay, mortality, childbirth, bereavement, wonder - with unsparing detail and sensitivity, and celebrate the gift of language which helps us transcend them.”
—Karthika Naïr
"Kitchens, decks, doorways, sidewalks, restaurants, and bars are charged with significance as spaces where characters negotiate relationships and appraise their lives. Mundane objects that carry emotional weight—raincoats, hair ribbons, cups of coffee—bring the stories alive . . . In the short stories of Everything Like Before, loneliness, despair, and longing are described with devastating nuance." —Rebecca Hussey, Foreword Reviews
"A prolific, peerless writer who made worlds and words come alive." -Raja Sen
"Her pen unfolds a rare fluidity, an insight into human nature, a gift for satire capped with feather-light touches of humour." -Times of India
"Deep, sparse and yet moving in poetry, Nabaneeta Dev Sen is gorgeous in her immaculate prose. Equally comfortable as a citizen of the world, as a woman exploring her own courtyard, Dev Sen's literary existence contains several apparently irreconcilable facets." --Anita Agnihotri
"It was through her creative writing that Dev Sen gave herself a sovereign presence in the Bengali literary sphere . . . She was not afraid of baring her pain in the early poetry she wrote, nor did she ever compromise on questions of freedom." -Dipesh Chakrabarty
"[In her poetry], words are not symbols, not individualised characters, but sentinels that represent hopes, dreams, fears, and inner instincts." -Uma Nair, Times of India
"Nabaneeta Dev Sen was one of the most beloved, versatile and prolific writers in Bengali literature. Equally expressive in poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction." -Bookseller at McNally Jackson
"An extraordinary talent, author, poet, and novelist." -Trisha De Niyogi, Bengaluru Review
"Her spontaneity, unique style of expression, vast and varied experience of life are evident in her poems, short stories, novels, features, and essays. Her wit and humor, sense of detachment together with heart-to-heart sensibility give her writings a personal touch that is hard to ignore." -Indian Library of Congress
"In prose, Dev Sen radiated warmth and joy, enlivened by her trademark self-deprecating humour and a robust sense of hope and compassion even in the direst of circumstances." -Somak Ghoshal, Livemint
"One of the doyens of Bengali Literature... I got to read whatever little I could of what was translated in English. But I hope more is translated. I hope more people read her. Quite a prolific writer." -Vivek Tejuja
"In everything Nabaneeta Dev Sen was, writer-teacher-feminist, etc, her luminous poetic legacy is this: she (and her words) embraced life with critical exhilaration, anticipated and experienced its short-changes, and came back to life again with one more pirouette after the lights dimmed." -Brinda Bose, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781939810809 |
| PRICE | US$18.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 120 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Ashwin R, Reviewer
Acrobat is not only concerned with the larger scope of history, but also with the delicate, shimmering experience of the poet's immediate world. Nabaneeta Dev Sen picks up these glinting fragments of her experience, then turns them over in her hand to see how they reflect the light of a world. Time is another recurring leitmotif, and a number of poems allude to the existential exploration of what it means to be a woman in this world.
The translations, done by Nandana Dev Sen, speak of an intimacy with the language and an understanding of the landscape that shaped her mother's existence. Nandana's skill with rhyme, internal and end-rhymes, is apparent throughout the collection.
Seher M, Reviewer
Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC!
I liked reading this, and honestly, the letter at the end made me tear up. I may not have enjoyed every single piece included here, but I liked the majority, and even the ones I didn't, I wished I could have read them in Bengali. Being desi myself, you can tell something is always missing in the translation, no matter how thoughtfully done.
Lauren T, Librarian
‘Acrobat’
‘There is nothing left for me to buy
From your Great Fair anymore.
I am going to get up from my steps now.’
*** I received a free Advanced Review Copy from NetGalley. This review is entirely my own and reflects my honest opinion.
What more can I add to this beautiful collection? Nothing.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen is a master of her craft, with her poems striking a chord with even the most inexperienced poetry reader. I won’t pretend to have much knowledge of poetry. I’ve read a few collections here-and-there but I’m more of a fiction reader, however, Nabaneeta Dev Sen's writing is absolutely spell-binding and her poetry managed to grab my attention within the first couple of lines.
This collection delves into a range of evocative topics from womanhood to decay, simultaneously decrying and celebrating the art of humanity. Nabaneeta Dev Sen takes select morsels of ordinary life and transforms them into something magical.
The lines I have included at the start of this review, taken from ‘The Great Fair’, have haunted me ever since I first laid eyes on them. Out of context, they may lack their signature lustre, but they had me feeling as though I had been punched in the gut when I first read over them! The depth of emotion conveyed over a few short lines really is breath-taking, and something that is exercised throughout ‘Acrobat’.
There is something so relatable about Nabaneeta Dev Sen's work, something that makes me feel connected to the author and her experiences almost as if they were my own.
I am bewitched.
I am consumed.
Do not waste any more time reading my review, go and pre-order a copy of ‘Acrobat’ from your local bookstore right now. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
Reviewer 770739
NOTE: Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was extremely excited to pick this one up as there is a special place in my heart for Indian and Indian origin poets, seeing as I am an Indian who likes writing poetry myself. I enjoyed reading the poems in this book; I think the ones that stood out for me were the pieces originally written in English and the ones translated by or with the poet herself. There were some shorter poems that I wasn't particularly a fan of, but that is fair enough considering that shortform is usually not for me.
My favourites were: The Lamp, A Birthday Voodoo, That Girl, Antara, Full Moon Nightscape and December 1992.
Rating: N/A because poetry is intensely personal :) I am merely rating it 5 stars because Netgalley won't accept reviews otherwise, lol
Soula K, Reviewer
The Acrobat by Nabaneeta Dev Sen is a poetry collection on life's joys and pains, including poems on love, loss, uncertainty, memory, and wonder. These earthy poems calm the soul and warm the heart, bring back memories and prompt the imagination.
A few of my favorite poems were:
-Friend
-Unspoken
-That Girl
-Grief: Rainy-Day Rhymes
-Too Much
-And Yet
-In Marriage
Grateful for the translator who worked carefully on each of her mother's poems and made it possible for readers like me to learn and be touched by this Bengali poet in English. Thank you to NetGalley and archipelago books for providing an ARC in exchange to my honest review.
Mohini W, Reviewer
I loved everything about this small gem! It was everything I wanted to restore my faith in the genre after continuously having slightly bitter experiences with "modern" poetry.
There were so many pieces that sung to my heart, honestly, it took me off guard with how good and raw they were. Nandita's translations of her mother's poetries are really good and even though I can't compare them with originals, they are evocative and stirring on their own. However, the eloquence of some pieces, I feel, was lost in translation.
It's easily one of the collections I'd love to revisit in the future!💖
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
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