Selected Poems

A major poet in English, Kamala Das’s taboo-breaking work explores themes of love and betrayal, the corporeal and the spiritual, while celebrating female sexuality and remaining deeply rooted in the poet’s ancestral tradition and landscape. A rigorous selection from her oeuvre-six published volumes and other uncollected and previously unpublished poems-this edition offers a unified perspective on her poetic achievement. An illuminating introduction to her poetry by Devindra Kohli traces the sources of its ferment, and showcases its originality of style and its acts of resistance.