Editorial (November 2020)

Sunil Sharma

So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.

---T. S. Eliot

One month short of the end of the dark 2020, a year that convulsed lives across the continents----and taught the world some valuable lessons about living, isolation and hope, in most unlikely situations, in face of death and trauma, sudden.

A mosaic of moods.

Well, darkness alternated by light.

Stillness by motion.

Confinement by escape in mind.

Lots of creativity---triumph of spirit over matter---happened and is happening, as the deadly pandemic continues to be global headlines.

Flights into the imaginary, imagined and real facilitated by lockdowns, limited or full.

And a virtual connect with the rest.

Online presence---enhanced over weeks and months of dread and stoicism.

Folks connecting in cyberspace---and forming new and newer alliances around themes of survival and community, solidarity and counselling.

Setu, too, conducted many initiatives and created an audio-visual body of poetic works.

Most important, on November 29th, Sunday evening, the Inaugural Edition of the International Poetry Reading Live! was hosted by the Setu bilingual journal that has already touched 1,787,549 page views so far. Total of eight poets and a stunning evening of poetry and ideas and bonhomie---real Rendezvous with Poetry. The video recording was posted on the FB page of Setu as well.

Besides that, in the same virtual meet of some of the top poets, Anurag Sharma, editor-in-chief and publisher, announced the six winners of the Setu awards for Excellence for the year 2020: three in Hindi and three in English; three women and three men; locations in USA, Australia and India.

Our heart-felt congrats to these fine authors for bringing delight in our daily lives through their works!

You will find the links to both the events elsewhere in the journal.

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The special section on Women in Translation is another value addition.

This area has emerged as a new field of research and investigation by academics and other interested individuals in deconstructing binaries and gaining urgency in recent years; it adds further to the developing plurality of the literary market.

Guest-edited by Nabanita Sengupta, it brings into focus the issues of gender, writing, language, politics, representation and translation, ably addressed by a plethora of experts and authors in an erudite manner for our discerning readers. An interesting exchange, linguistic, social and aesthetic in its totality and overall impact.

As usual, we remain grateful to them and other contributors to the general section for their solid support.

Please enjoy the variety of the fare!

Take care!

Sunil Sharma,

Editor, Setu (English)
Mumbai Metro Area, Maharashtra (India)

Setu, November 2020