Indira Goswami, the Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer who changed over to the world of verse with a just released collection, insists she is "not a poet".
"I'm not a poet. I'm a novelist and a short story writer. These poems were written in my leisure time," said Goswami at the release of "Pain And Flesh" here Sunday evening.
The poems, which include one on Pakistan that appeared in that country's leading daily Dawn, "are a footnote to my fiction. But often the poems transcend this and form a poetic world in itself," she said after the book was released in the capital by noted artist Jatin Das.
The first ever book on poems by the writer who teaches at Delhi University was released at a function organised by the Assam Association at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Bhavan here.
Born in an orthodox family in Assam, Goswami rose to fame with her stories and novels, most of which showcased human pathos, like "My Incomplete Autobiography" and "The Man From Chinnamasta".
Winner of the Jnanpith award too, Goswami wrote the poem "Pakistan" during a visit to that country some years ago. "People liked the poem after I recited it at a gathering. To my surprise Dawn carried it in its issue the following day," she said.
Published by BR Publishing Corporation and priced at Rs.695, the 79-page book has eight poems, including one for Nobel laureate VS Naipaul, to whom Goswami has dedicated her work.
{{/usCountry}}Published by BR Publishing Corporation and priced at Rs.695, the 79-page book has eight poems, including one for Nobel laureate VS Naipaul, to whom Goswami has dedicated her work.
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