What do you think?
Rate this book
Translating Feminisms
Night: Poems
Translating Feminisms showcases intimate collaborations and conversations between some of Asias most exciting women writers and emerging-star translators: contemporary poetry of labour and language, alongside essays exploring how, where and by whom feminist writing and female bodies are translated.
For us at Tilted Axis Press, feminist publishing means working against the fetishisation of oppression and demands that authors explicitly subscribe to what white women recognise as feminism, or even foreground their femaleness in their work. We work towards ensuring that the women we publish have the creative agency to contextualise their own work, resisting the commodification and/or erasure of their femaleness on their own terms.
As part of Tilted Axis's wider project of decolonisation through and of translation, and in response to seeing women authors of colour misread through a white feminist lens, we wanted to re-imagine the possibilities of a fully intersectional, international feminism. In the process, weve expanded our own conception of feminist writing and being we hope these chapbooks will do the same for you.
Sulochana Manandhar has published three books of poetry: Jhyalkhana, Anubhitika Thopaharu and Raat, as well as several books of personal essays. She is a columnist and an instructor in the Newari and Chinese languages in Kathmandu.
For us at Tilted Axis Press, feminist publishing means working against the fetishisation of oppression and demands that authors explicitly subscribe to what white women recognise as feminism, or even foreground their femaleness in their work. We work towards ensuring that the women we publish have the creative agency to contextualise their own work, resisting the commodification and/or erasure of their femaleness on their own terms.
As part of Tilted Axis's wider project of decolonisation through and of translation, and in response to seeing women authors of colour misread through a white feminist lens, we wanted to re-imagine the possibilities of a fully intersectional, international feminism. In the process, weve expanded our own conception of feminist writing and being we hope these chapbooks will do the same for you.
Sulochana Manandhar has published three books of poetry: Jhyalkhana, Anubhitika Thopaharu and Raat, as well as several books of personal essays. She is a columnist and an instructor in the Newari and Chinese languages in Kathmandu.
38 pages, Paperback
First published February 14, 2019
127 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2020
This collection of anthologies by Tilted Axis Press translates female and feminist poetry from Asia into English. There are four parts:
“Against Healing”, nine Korean poets
“Desire Become Demons”, four Tamil poets
“Moon Fevers” from the Vietnamese poet Nhã Thuyên
“Night” from the Nepali poet Sulochana Manandhar Dhital
Reading all of them almost back to back, I felt they were a mixed bag overall, but verging on the negative side. Now, poetry is always very subjective, so just because I did not like it does not mean it is truly bad. My main problem was that I could not find a connection to the material, the symbolism, the issues and feelings, the history discussed. And that might be just as much my problem as the poets and / or editors.
“Night” was probably the best of them for me, maybe because of my connection to Nepal giving me a head start to understanding everything. I really “got” this collection, it is was round and had a thematic red thread woven through. It was also the most traditional of all the collections in terms of form. It was the least heavy with country-specific-issues (and thus more universally understandable), yet still told stories and did something to the reader.
Overall, all of them were an interesting glimpse into literature that you do not often get your hands on and that is not often translated and thus discussed. So it was great to read all of them, but a true connection was rarely possible.
“Against Healing”, nine Korean poets
“Desire Become Demons”, four Tamil poets
“Moon Fevers” from the Vietnamese poet Nhã Thuyên
“Night” from the Nepali poet Sulochana Manandhar Dhital
Reading all of them almost back to back, I felt they were a mixed bag overall, but verging on the negative side. Now, poetry is always very subjective, so just because I did not like it does not mean it is truly bad. My main problem was that I could not find a connection to the material, the symbolism, the issues and feelings, the history discussed. And that might be just as much my problem as the poets and / or editors.
“Night” was probably the best of them for me, maybe because of my connection to Nepal giving me a head start to understanding everything. I really “got” this collection, it is was round and had a thematic red thread woven through. It was also the most traditional of all the collections in terms of form. It was the least heavy with country-specific-issues (and thus more universally understandable), yet still told stories and did something to the reader.
Overall, all of them were an interesting glimpse into literature that you do not often get your hands on and that is not often translated and thus discussed. So it was great to read all of them, but a true connection was rarely possible.
July 27, 2021
The review is taken from my bookstagram IG @descanto
When I first grabbed this chapbook, I could not help myself but to think about the verses in the bible which talk about the night. I remember back then I read: God called the light day and the darkness He called night. In another verse He says; “Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun.”
But what would it be like to associate the darkness night with women?
Women , no matter what, have become the object of arts including painting and literature particularly poems. Sulochana’s is without exception. She uses the allegory of night to define the women and their womanhood.
As many see night as symbol of darkness, I - in my humble opinion see night as somebody who paves the way so other can see the light. Night is like a woman who gives a birth to something precious: light.
And relating the allegory of night to women’s life; This is the question I keep asking: “how does it feel when there is no night but a long day with the sun shining all the time? Would it be a disaster too, ey?” As same as, "how can we complete the creation of the world without women?"
However, with the importance of women in life; women themselves are likely treated as the second-class citizen and often seen as the sperm container only. A lamentable fact which this chapbook tries to unveil.
And so as Sulo says;
“Knowledge was born from night’s womb
and from the same womb
came light..”
So let there be light...
Let the women's light shine...
When I first grabbed this chapbook, I could not help myself but to think about the verses in the bible which talk about the night. I remember back then I read: God called the light day and the darkness He called night. In another verse He says; “Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun.”
But what would it be like to associate the darkness night with women?
Women , no matter what, have become the object of arts including painting and literature particularly poems. Sulochana’s is without exception. She uses the allegory of night to define the women and their womanhood.
As many see night as symbol of darkness, I - in my humble opinion see night as somebody who paves the way so other can see the light. Night is like a woman who gives a birth to something precious: light.
And relating the allegory of night to women’s life; This is the question I keep asking: “how does it feel when there is no night but a long day with the sun shining all the time? Would it be a disaster too, ey?” As same as, "how can we complete the creation of the world without women?"
However, with the importance of women in life; women themselves are likely treated as the second-class citizen and often seen as the sperm container only. A lamentable fact which this chapbook tries to unveil.
And so as Sulo says;
“Knowledge was born from night’s womb
and from the same womb
came light..”
So let there be light...
Let the women's light shine...
December 2, 2022
It's not you - it's me. Let this review not discourage you.
I'm kicking myself giving this such a low rating, although slightly above average, I feel sad that I can't rate it higher. I just don't like, or possibly understand, "Insta-type-poetry".
Rupi Kaur is very successful with her poems, and for her fans I genuinely recommend Sulochana's translated poetry.
They are beautiful, and tranquil, and calming. I love that there is the English translation and then Nepali originals mirrored.
Personally, though, I found little that I liked. Some images were very interesting, but overall, something was missing. To me, poems like this feel flat, basic, reduced.
If you pick this up, make sure to read authors and translators notes at the beginning. They give much needed context to Sulichana, and her collection of poems.
I gifted this book to my dear friend from writing group and she will appreciate this more :)
I'm kicking myself giving this such a low rating, although slightly above average, I feel sad that I can't rate it higher. I just don't like, or possibly understand, "Insta-type-poetry".
Rupi Kaur is very successful with her poems, and for her fans I genuinely recommend Sulochana's translated poetry.
They are beautiful, and tranquil, and calming. I love that there is the English translation and then Nepali originals mirrored.
Personally, though, I found little that I liked. Some images were very interesting, but overall, something was missing. To me, poems like this feel flat, basic, reduced.
If you pick this up, make sure to read authors and translators notes at the beginning. They give much needed context to Sulichana, and her collection of poems.
I gifted this book to my dear friend from writing group and she will appreciate this more :)
January 16, 2020
I heard about these Translating Feminisms chapbooks from Helen from the Translating Women Project. I ordered two of them, they arrived in the post today. The joy of receiving word of mouth recommendations on Twitter results in the opening up of new literary worlds. In this chapbook entitled, Night, there is a beautiful fluidity to the poems.It is a slim volume that comprises of 25 poems, chosen by the translator, Muna Gurung. It also includes an introduction by the translator, Muna Gurung and poet, Sulochan Manandhar.
Read more of this review here: https://aroundtheworldonefemalenoveli...
Read more of this review here: https://aroundtheworldonefemalenoveli...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews