Q Tell us when you started writing poetry ?
– Well, it’s a difficult question to answer. I used to write poetry during my MA days. I continued writing after post-graduation. At that time Pritish Nandy, the editor of Dialogue India, published a few of my poems in the book. He encouraged me a lot and used to give positive reviews which motivated me to continue writing poetry.
Q Did you start off straightaway in English or did you start writing in English later in your career?
– I never thought of become a poet at the initial stage. I developed interest in writing poems much later. Though I was regularly contributing poems to different magazines across India, I started writing seriously only after 1975 and my first book Going to the Temple was published in 1989.
Q Who is your favourite poet?
– Apart from Jayanta Mahapatra and Pritish Nandy, there are many European writers who have influenced my poetry and have been influencing it still.
Q You have published nine collections, some prose and translation works. It has been a long journey. Tell us of your experiences in the publishing world?
– So far the journey has been good, but I have long way to go. During this journey I have learned to be modest and I have also learned the different aspects of the poetic craft. I have inculcated a stoic acceptance and am prepared to face rejection. Learning is a continuous process and I am still learning.
Q You have dedicated one chap book to the great writer DH Lawrence titled Living with Lorenzo. What inspired you to write the book?
– Lawrence has been more or less my guide for the last so many years ever since I studied him during my graduation days. He is my master. He has inspired me the way I live, but not in my poetry.
Q In Orissa English writers, especially poets are not very popular. What is your opinion? Where does the problem lie?
– Jayanta Mahapatra is recognised very well and there are many like Niranjan Mahanty, Manoj Das and others who are popular in Orissa. Their poems are recommended in schools, colleges and universities in Orissa as well as others parts of the country and aboard. One of the major problems is that poetry is not appreciated properly is the absence of good magazines and poetry journals. There are only a few prominent magazines like Kavya Bharti and Indian Literature. Recently, some good online magazines have come up.
Q You also write in Oriya. How is the experience distinct and different from that of writing in English?
– Yes, I do write in Oriya too. So far I have published two poetry collections in Oriya. For me, writing in English is much easier than writing in Oriya. My selection of subject is very large in English which is not so in Oriya. Most of my Oriya poems are love poems. I still do write in Oriya and have enough material to publish a book which will be done by the end of March.
Q What do you think of other poets from Orissa who write in English?
– Actually there are many others who write well. Prabhagyan Mishra and Rabindra Swain write good poetry but have not been able so far to come to the mainstream of Indian writing in English.
Q What would be your advice to young poets?
– They should read a lot of poetry and shouldn’t publish a book after writing 40 or 50 poems. They should wait for a book to be published rather than publishing it. They should publish enough poems and other works in different magazines so that people become familiar with their name. Another important thing is that they should sit down for a couple of hours and wait for a poem to come.
