Nabina Das - Of Love, Blood & Dissent

Nabina Das is an iconoclast and one of the finest poets of our times. She has just released an incredible collection of poems - Witness: the Red River Book of Poetry of Dissent, with poems from 250 of the finest poets of our times.  In this episode of Red River Sessions presented by Uncut Poetry, Nabina talks about the genesis of this magnum opus, the struggles of putting together something so huge, as also the sheer ecstasy of discovering poets whose poems completely cut her heart up. She also talks about her childhood in Guwahati, the heady mix of politics and spirituality swirling in her household, and how dissent was infused early into her blood by the strong women in her life. Nabina says - "I write because I feel that living on words and the experiences they generate is an extra nourishment one can have other than just eating, sleeping, and living on. I’m feral that way. I scavenge and brood into the darkness of the heart and the world, looking for words." Nabina is a Sahapedia-UNESCO fellow, a  Charles Wallace Creative Writing alumna (Stirling University), and a 2016 Commonwealth Writers Organisation featured Correspondent. Born and brought up in Guwahati, Nabina's  poetry collections include Into the Migrant City, Blue Vessel and Sanskarnama, which was mentioned as one of the best poetry books of 2018 by Open Magazine. Her first novel was Footprints in the Bajra (2010) , and her short fiction volume was titled The House of Twining Roses (2014). Nabina writes and translates in English, Assamese and Bengali, while her poetry has been translated into Croatian, French, Bengali, Malayalam, and Urdu.  This is a peerless episode from Red Rivers Sessions presented to you by Uncut Poetry. In Red River Sessions, we  talk to published poets, about their poetry, their craft and what haunts them. It is brought to you by Red River, which is the premier independent publisher of poetry books and Uncut Poetry, a much-loved poetry podcast. Witness: the Red River Book of Poetry of Dissent is available with the following links - Purchase link for INDIA: https://www.amazon.in/dp/8194816475 Purchase link for ELSEWHERE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/8194816475 You can get the book at further discount at the following link:  https://papyrus.catalog.to/s/papyrus---the-book-store/red-river-poetry/brf Following are the details of the music used in this episode: Sentimental Travel by MusicLFiles Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6968-sentimental-travel License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Virtutes Instrumenti by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4590-virtutes-instrumenti License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Parting of the Ways - Part 2 by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4196-parting-of-the-ways---part-2 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Anamalie by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4980-anamalie License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Rustic Ballad by Alexander Nakarada Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4720-rustic-ballad License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Round Drums by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4308-round-drums License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license