Central Time

by Ranjit Hoskote

In Central Time, Ranjit Hoskote becomes the storyteller of a turbulent epoch. We meet Ovid and Ghalib, poets in exile or eclipse, in these poems, which are by turns elliptical, conversational and narrative. We meet painters who betray their art, and sculptors who are betrayed by theirs. Fascinated by the enigmas of time, memory and evanescence that art invokes, Hoskote addresses a range of artists including Bihzad, Magritte, Masaki Fujihata and Ranbir Kaleka. At the same time, he retains his affection for the natural world, celebrating the textures and intensities of sensuous the roughness of stone, the dance of light, the flowering of touch and the taste of salt and cinnamon.
A testament to a present shimmering like a mirage between contested pasts and vexed futures, this book pivots around moments of a defiant squirrel in Anuradhapura, an intriguing collection of objects in a Berlin museum or a man discovering a mass grave near Kabul. Written between 2006 and 2014, the hundred poems that form Central Time resonate with the crises of war, genocide, terror, forced migration and the precariousness of belonging.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Saadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utter sublimity

[World Literature Today]

"Central Time contains powerfully built poems that are at the same time clever, vulnerable, lyrical, stoical, intelligent, wise, and moving. Savor the irony in the opening gambit of the prose poem 'For Example': 'The saint maintains his piety through the graphic imagination of other people’s vices. We thank him for it.'" - Sudeep Sen, New Delhi, India

This book was reviewed in the September 2014 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/ZPuitU

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of poems expressing emotions. Certain poems are written about and for people.

[Jessica]

This is a wonderful collection of poems by an accomplished Indian contemporary poet. Recommend.