Vandana Kumar is a multiple award -winning poet, a French teacher, translator,, Indie Film Producer and cinephile residing in New Delhi, India.
Her poems have been published in international anthologies, journals, and national and international websites of repute like ‘Mad Swirl’, Grey Sparrow Journal, ‘Madras Courier’, and ‘Outlook’ to name only a few. Her debut collection of poems’ Mannequin Of Our Times’ was published in February 2023. The book has been awarded ‘The Panorama International Book Award 2023’ and ‘The Mighty Pens Awards 2023. She is a Pushcart Prize-nominated author- poet for the year 2023. Here are the excerpts from her conversation with Prof Dr Shiv Sethi.
Q1. You have been writing since many years now – and last year your award-winning ‘Mannequin Of Our Times’ was published – tell us how the journey has been since then.
Ans1. It is always gratifying to see your poetry reach its readers and for people to respond and connect in ways that the artist could never imagine. The book has been showered with so much love in terms of special recognition and awards. As spring settled into Delhi, it was heart-warming to have one’s book available at the recently concluded Delhi World Book Fair 2024.
Q2. What actually inspires you to write?
Ans2. I am constantly thinking of life and death. How consumerist the society is and how lonely we all are deep down also consume me. Other art forms are also a constant source of inspiration. I find myself suddenly writing a poem and never planning to write one.
Q3. What goes into the making of a poet. Can you explain the process to me?
Ans 3. Art forms are often difficult to define by the concerned artist. It is the journey of a lifetime for a poet, or for any artist to reach somewhere. Sometimes it’s about the realization at the end of the journey – mostly it is about the revelations on a daily basis in this journey.
Q4. What do you feel when people say that an artist must always be positive.
Ans4. The positivity or learning or healing has to come from within the darkness. The artist cannot be true to his writing if he does not embrace his truths and multiple contradictions. The movement towards light has to be from our soul searching and openness to face our demons.
Q5. You are a French translator too. What are the challenges you face with translating?
Ans5. Translations are always challenging. No matter what one translates there is always a layering or some nuances that get totally missed out. Certain proverbs and expressions have often no literal translation in the language being translated into and often no equivalent culturally.
Q6. What sort of poetry do you read and any favorites?
Ans 6.The poets I draw inspiration from are many– they might be contemporary or might belong to the 18th Century. The poetry I read largely depends on my mood for the day. Eliot,Rumi, Charles Bukowski and Arseny Tarkovsky are the few constants who I go back to every now and then.