TALKING BOOKS
Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl talks to Laksmisree Banerjee about hr poetry collection 'The Red Woman'.
Talking Books
With Laksmisree Banerjee
Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl talks to Laksmisree Banerjee about her poetry collection Red Woman. Laksmisree is a Multiple-Award winning Poet, University Professor of English and Cultural Studies, International Scholar and a Vocalist.
Thank you Laksmisree for talking with The Wise Owl about your book.
RS: The Red Woman boldly fuses poetic craft with social critique, offering a tapestry of voices from across time and geography. What was the genesis of this collection, and how did you weave together such a wide spectrum of female experiences into a coherent poetic vision?
LB: Since childhood I was brought up in a cradle of faith with the Durga Puja being held every year with great pomp and glory. While growing up I strongly felt the contradiction in the tradition of bringing soil from the “red light area” of a prostitute’s home. The purity of womanhood cum motherhood with deep paradoxes in a Patriarchal society started stoking my deepest thoughts. Finally, after many years I have written THE RED WOMAN, born of the flames of such an imbroglio of thoughtless conventions of a male-dominated society. The title takes its birth from the “Red” of the “red light area inhabited by hapless women.
RS: The symbolism of “red” recurs throughout the collection—invoking fire, passion, pain, and defiance. What does “The Red Woman” embody for you, and how did you channel this potent symbol across different poems?
LB: I ruminated for a long period on the inconsistency of our traditions and discovered that the colour “Red” had the potent contradictions of our societal norms used against Women and that it signified the colour of intense Love, Tenderness and Powerful Motherhood / Womanhood as also of Blood, Violence and Trauma meted out to Women.
RS: The poems traverse multiple poetic forms—from traditional to experimental. How did the structure of each poem serve the emotion or narrative it carried? Were certain forms chosen deliberately to mirror the fragmentation or resilience of female experience?
LB: Very interesting question about the fissures and complexities in the wholesome life of a woman. The multiple poetic forms are born of these dichotomies and intricacies within the completeness of a woman’s life. So there are elliptical, conventional forms both in rhymed and free verse poetry. Often the forms were consciously chosen while at other times these evolved naturally. But of course there is an integration of structural forms and thematic content.
RS: Your work foregrounds women's stories that have long been silenced—whether through violence, erasure, or indifference. What sources—personal, historical, cultural—did you draw upon to resurrect these voices, and how did you balance empathy with urgency?
LB: I feel all literary writings are somehow autobiographical, though with our growth and evolution of our experiences and intellect as thoughtful writers, we create forms and entities which are very often inclusive and all-encompassing to serve as lighthouses and trailblazers curated from varied sources for social upgradation.
RS: While the collection doesn’t shy away from brutality—rape, mutilation, silencing—it also speaks powerfully of courage, rebirth, and phoenix-like resurgence. How did you emotionally navigate this spectrum while writing? Was catharsis part of the process?
LB: Yes definitely, catharsis is finally the desired outcome as one writes and evolves through the paths and flowing rivers of one’s journey as a writer. This book has started like a closely wound multi-hued fabric of my life. I have remained at the centre, as these threads of my life have slowly unwound and unfolded for blossoming into new entities. The coagulated experiences of Womanhood have gradually unfurled into meaningful poetry.
RS: You have said these poems go “beyond labels and categories,” eschewing borders or binaries. In a world increasingly obsessed with classification, how important was it for you to resist such boundaries in the way you framed womanhood?
LB: Boundaries and artificial fences had to be negated since Womanhood for me includes very many strands of life and living. For me it is an intertwining of Humanity and Divinity, of the Loving Mother and the Fierce Warrior out to avenge injustice. Therefore avoiding categorisation was very important to present and poetise THE RED WOMAN in its unalloyed entirety.
RS: In an era where we pride ourselves on progress—technological, political, intellectual—your poems remind us that half of humanity still battles invisibility and injustice. What role do you believe poetry plays in provoking empathy and driving change?
LB: I must state here that it was the brutal rape and killing of a young female doctor inside the famous R.G. Kar Hospital of Kolkata on 9th August 2024, that brought speed and a fierce urgency to this book as I have dedicated it to the Abhayas and Nirbhayas (Fearless Ones) of the world. I believe this book is ordained to bring social change and justice. In fact Poetry, I am sure is a powerful instrument of Social Transformation.
RS: If readers could walk away from The Red Woman with a single resonant image or truth etched into their consciousness, what would you hope that would be—and why does it matter now more than ever?
LB: Yes, though these poems accentuate the multi-facetedness of Women’s experiences throughout the world, I would still wish to state (as my Illustrator depicts on the cover of the book, as conceptualized by me) the single resonant image of this book would be a blood-smeared Woman with an unfurled flag in one hand and a tight fist in the other, proclaiming a crying rebellion for a better world of equality and humanity.
LB: Thanks a lot dear Rachna and The Wise Owl for your perceptive questions and this Interview.
Thank you so much Laksmisree for taking time out to talk with The Wise Owl. We wish you the very best in all your creative pursuits.
About Lakmisree Banerjee
Laksmisree Banerjee is a Multi Award Winning and widely published Poet, Dr. She is a Fmr.Vice Chancellor and University Professor of English and Cultural Studies. She is also an International Sr.Fulbright and Commonwealth Scholar with a UGC Postdoctoral Research Award for her ground breaking work on the Comparative Studies of World Women Poets, among several other prestigious Awards. A two- time entrant to the Year Book of Indian Poetry, she has Twelve Books of Poetry and several Academic Books and Literary Publications across the globe. A Double Gold Medallist ( Calcutta University) in English and Hindustani Classical Music ( Allahabad University) she is a Sr. Radio and TV Vocalist, having been felicitated by the Sahitya Akademi, Delhi in 2002 as a " a Scholar-Artiste and Poet,- Musician" through their Avishkar Honour Series.. ....She has two International Lifetime Achievement Awards in Art and Literature and her Poetry has been published in some Sixty Anthologies of the world.....Prof. Banerjee believes in her Pen and Voice as transformative instruments for social justice stice and change.
A doctorate in English literature and a former bureaucrat, Rachna Singh has authored Penny Panache (2016) Myriad Musings (2016) Financial Felicity (2017) & The Bitcoin Saga: A Mixed Montage (2019). Her book, Phoenix in Flames, is a book about eight ordinary women from different walks of life who become extraordinary on account of their fortitude & grit. She writes regularly for National Dailies and has also been reviewing books for the The Tribune for more than a decade. She runs a YouTube Channel, Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein, which brings to the viewers poetry of established poets of Hindi & Urdu. She loves music and is learning to play the piano. Nurturing literature & art is her passion and to make that happen she has founded The Wise Owl, a literary & art magazine that provides a free platform for upcoming poets, writers & artists. Her latest book is Raghu Rai: Waiting for the Divine, a memoir of legendary photographer, Raghu Rai.
About Rachna Singh
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Hi Joanna. Thanks for talking to The Wise Owl
RS: Your collection of Cherita ‘river lanterns’ has been released recently. Our readers would be eager to know (as I am) what inspired you to write this beautiful collection of 90 virgin Cherita.
JA: I have been published in Ai Li’s Cherita journals for a while and love writing in this form. I mentioned in my email correspondence to Ai Li that I aspired to have my own Cherita collection published. She offered to edit my selection of poems from a large selection that I sent her. I would say my inspiration came from reading Ai Li’s own collections of her Cherita verse, they are so beautiful.
When I began writing these, I was mindful to really show me as not only a writer but as the person beneath and how the Cherita form bends to the art of storytelling. It took me some time to write these and I am delighted with the narrative that Ai Li made with her choices for my book. When another person chooses, they can distance themselves from your work and look critically at what you have sent. It was a real honour for me to entrust the creator of the Cherita with my work.
RS: Your book is a collection of Cherita verse. Cherita is a genre of recent origin (1997). Tell us what attracted you to this genre of poetry. Were there any creative influences in your life that encouraged you to adopt this genre as your own.
JA: I am attracted to this genre of poetry as I hold a deep reverence for Ai Li’s poetry and the short form poetry forms as a collective. I was excited to see that Ai Li had developed this new genre. She published my short form verse in the 1990s in her journal Still and I was sad when this was no longer in print. I enjoyed the challenge of learning how to write this new form and find it really resonates with me as a writer.
I discovered her new form of Cherita and was hooked by these story gems. I really admire the way that the Cherita journals are produced and enjoy reading the work within these. As a writer it is important to keep on working at your craft and I love it when I get to enjoy the work of a fellow poet in the same genre.
RS: River Lanterns has been edited and published by ai li, the creator of Cherita as a genre. How was the experience of connecting with the doyen of Cherita and having her select your Cherita?
JA: As I mentioned earlier Ai Li had published my work in the 90s, then through offering Cherita to her for publication, the connection was reborn. I have always enjoyed reading Ai Li’s poetry and I have found her to be a gracious supporter of my Cherita. Sending my work to the creator of the genre I think really made me conscious that I had to elevate my writing to meet the standards to have enough quality Cherita for my own individual collection. The experience is something that I will treasure as I now have a collection published other people can enjoy and will hopefully encourage them to do the same.
RS: Cherita is said to be a unique form of storytelling…storytelling in 6 lines. M Kei says that Cherita verse ‘combine the evocative power of tanka with the narrative of a personal story, like the vignettes we glimpse as we sit in a café and watch the world go by.’ Do you agree ? For the benefit of the readers would you please elaborate on this.
JA: Yes, I think M Kei’s insight is correct. Cherita to me contain the voice/song/whispers around the campfire as the stories unfold. They can be written about such a wide range of experiences, focused through the lens of the individual. I love the power of tanka, and I see Cherita as a close cousin, both forms use beautiful language to sing a fragment of the world that we live in.
RS: I feel what differentiates Cherita from narrative storytelling, is that it tells a story about life & our spiritual journey. This is very true of your Cherita:
have you
found it yet
the fun arcade
where wishes
are the alchemy
of breath
What are your thoughts on this?
JA: Yes, I feel a real connection with Cherita and my spiritual side. This is an element that attracts me to using this form. It allows me to explore and highlight aspects that may not be accepted in other types of verse. The Cherita can be used as a blank canvas for me to embed my perspective of my inner and outer world through stories.
RS: What are the themes or stories you have touched upon in your various Cherita verse?
JA: Where to begin… The Cherita in this collection provides a map of my highs and lows. They reveal how I see the world and feel about it. I enjoy adding elements of fairytales, myths, rich imagery, and aspects of the natural world. The importance of love, loss, friendship, connections, truth etc. all are within. The Cherita captures a moment of beauty, in time, often of universal things that happen to all of us but told from the narrator’s perspective. Often there is a vein of spirituality running through the verse.
RS: There are some cherita terbalik also in your collection. For the benefit of our readers please tell us how this form is different from Cherita and why we need a different syllable arrangement for this form of poetic storytelling
JA: The Cherita terbalik also tells a story but ‘terbalik’ is the Malay word for upside down or reversal (https://www.thecherita.com/) It is a different arrangement of the original Cherita stanza format. By using another variation of the Cherita format it enables the writer to alter the flow of the story that they are telling, such as the example from my collection below:
the ruby shoes
the glass slipper
the fairy dust
as a child
I imagined all
in my cupboard
To me this verse is stronger with the terbalik arrangement. Writing Cherita I make a judgement as to which stanza suits the flow of the story.
RS: Do you also write in other genres like haiku, senryu, tanka, haibun on a regular basis? Which is your favorite genre among all these genres (we know your fondness for Cherita of course)
JA: Yes, I also write in other genres such as haiku, senryu, tanka, Haibun and other short form verse. I began writing contemporary poetry first and then I discovered haiku when I was looking for poetry journals to read and subscribe to. I fell in love with haiku and feel that they are the guardians of nature and our world. I find short form poetry very special; these dewdrops of tiny forms really capture a sense of the world around us.
I see the bonds between these genres as strings from the same bow –
the heart harp
wind and rainfall
skeins from sky
this humming
of a melody
our soul bonds
Selecting a favourite is like asking a parent to choose a child. They all hold a place in my heart. I began with haiku and then progressed to tanka – aspects of the heart. These are the two that led me into this world of short form poetry and were my entry point for exploring and discovering other genres. I wouldn’t like to be without any one of them as they each offer a different way to express aspects of the world and my own life journey.
RS: What advice would you give budding poets of Cherita verse?
JA: The advice I would give to writers of any verse is to READ, READ, READ. Study the form, work on your craft, support the journals that publish them – if you want to write them, then surely you will enjoy reading them. Write, keep on writing and honing, learning the form, find your own style/voice, make connections in the writing world – even if online and listen and appreciate editorial advice – they have a vast range of experience, and this is how you grow as a writer. The short form poetry world is a beautiful, supportive place. When you buy a journal that publishes Cherita verse or another genre, be open to learning and see how well other writers use the form. Try and buy the collections of writers that you admire, this keeps our writers’ world vibrant and alive.
Thank you, Joanna, for taking time out to talk to The Wise owl about your beautiful book. We wish you the best and hope you make this unique storytelling genre rich with your verse.
Thank you so much for asking me to talk to you.