Guest Editor’s Note: Local (Setu Special, June 2020)

When the world is embracing social distancing, this special issue of Setu on LOCAL will give a window to the readers. Love for the immediate never comes with an expiry date. It breaks boundaries at several levels.

Celebration of the local is praxis of a postcolonial society. We are at first local, then global. Local happening, events and rituals, tea shops, vendors, falling of leaves, gossips, etc are our immediate culture where usual doors of escape are shut and sealed. Writers have words and images for all minute occurrences of daily acts. For them, history chose to smell nothing but the stench of burning flesh. Acts of history is nothing but the barbed wires running through streams of blood They sounds very distinctive here. All writers’ is a search, the shore of which keeps us alluring:

“Gaze at night at the lonely planet
Which attracts satellites as does a magnet.
The glow of the sun is its own, nor a gift of a deity
nor does the lack of company eclipse its glory.”

The primary function of all the arts is to make us more aware of ourselves and the world around us. Indian art possesses harmony and proportion and can hold its own against attempts at derision. Clay, wax, wood, bronze, stone-whatever material the artist lay his hands on with his consummate artistry in brilliance shone. Ecological crisis, gender stereotyping, patriarchal hegemony and contemporary socio-political situations are some of the other prominent issues that find voice in this collage of ideas. In fascinating poems by poets from different cultures rain-drops and life interplay in a spirit gay like the notes in a symphony, rising, falling, diverging and coalescing for eternity.

Nothing can stop the flow of the heart—love! The vision of love is like a post rain rainbow. The objective of this special issue of Setu is to attend that blessed state of happiness.

Writers are good friends for all seasons. I thank all soul makers of this very special issue for Setu.

-Jaydeep Sarangi

Jhargram/Kolkata, June 2020

Bio: Jaydeep Sarangi is a widely anthologized bilingual poet with eight collections in English latest being Heart Raining the Light (2020) released in Rome. Sarangi has read his poems in different shores of the globe. His later readings were at Flinders University, University of Western Australia, University of South Australia, University of Wollongong, Perth Poetry Club (Australia), University of Udine (Italy)and University of Rezeszow (Poland). Sarangi is on the editorial boards of different journals featuring poetry and articles on poetry like Mascara Literary Review, Transnational Literature (Australia), Setu (USA), Geetanjali and Beyond (Scottland) Teesta, WEC(India). He has forty-two critical and edited books and edited special issues on new poetry for reputed journals in India and abroad. With Rob Harle, he has guest edited six anthologies of poems from Australia and India. He is the translator of Not in My Name: Poems of Subodh Sarkar. With Dr Amelia Walker he is guest editing a special volume for TEXT (Australia). Among his recent awards, the Setu Award of Excellence for 2019 (USA). He is a professor of English and principal at New Alipore College, Kolkata.. E mail: jaydeepsarangi@gmail.com




7 comments :

  1. Special "THANK YOU" to the Editorial Team of distinguished SETU bilingual e-journal for publication of this June 2020 Special - LOCAL issue. And CONGRATS to stellar, literary bilingual scholar, and Dear Friend, Jaydeep Sarangi for being GUEST EDITOR for June 2020 of SETU. Appreciate to see my name on the list of selected contributors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Special "THANK YOU" to the Editorial Team of distinguished SETU bilingual e-journal for publication of this June 2020 Special - LOCAL issue. And CONGRATS to stellar, literary bilingual scholar, and Dear Friend, Jaydeep Sarangi for being GUEST EDITOR for June 2020 of SETU. Appreciate to see my name on the list of selected contributors.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Special "THANK YOU" to the Editorial Team of distinguished SETU bilingual e-journal for publication of this June 2020 Special - LOCAL issue. And CONGRATS to stellar, literary bilingual scholar, and Dear Friend, Jaydeep Sarangi for being GUEST EDITOR for June 2020 of SETU. Appreciate to see my name on the list of selected contributors.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Special "THANK YOU" to the Editorial Team of distinguished SETU bilingual e-journal for publication of this June 2020 Special - LOCAL issue. And CONGRATS to stellar, literary bilingual scholar, and Dear Friend, Jaydeep Sarangi for being GUEST EDITOR for June 2020 of SETU. Appreciate to see my name on the list of selected contributors.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations on another wonderful issue of SETU bilingual e-journal. A special word of appreciation for the excellent editorial by the distinguished Guest Editor Jaydeep Sarangi. Glad to see my poems included here, among the poems of other superb poets. Thank you Jaydeep and thank you to the Editorial team.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on another wonderful issue of SETU bilingual e-journal. A special word of appreciation for the excellent editorial by the distinguished Guest Editor Jaydeep Sarangi. Glad to see my poems included here, among the poems of other superb poets. Thank you Jaydeep and thank you to the Editorial team.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A fabulous edition! So honoured to be a part of it; enjoying this lavish feast of poetry! Thank you Jaydeep Sir and SETU!!

    ReplyDelete

We welcome your comments related to the article and the topic being discussed. We expect the comments to be courteous, and respectful of the author and other commenters. Setu reserves the right to moderate, remove or reject comments that contain foul language, insult, hatred, personal information or indicate bad intention. The views expressed in comments reflect those of the commenter, not the official views of the Setu editorial board. рдк्рд░рдХाрд╢िрдд рд░рдЪрдиा рд╕े рд╕рдо्рдмंрдзिрдд рд╢ाрд▓ीрди рд╕рдо्рд╡ाрдж рдХा рд╕्рд╡ाрдЧрдд рд╣ै।