Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar
Authors and Contributors      Translated by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:72
Dimensions(mm): Height 210,Width 148
Category/GenrePoetry
ISBN/Barcode 9781636280875
ClassificationsDewey:894.8111
Audience
General
Edition 2nd New edition

Publishing Details

Publisher Red Hen Press
Imprint Red Hen Press
Publication Date 26 July 2022
Publication Country United States

Description

Give, Eat, and Live is a selection of poems translated from the 12th century Tamil poet Avvaiyar, arguably one of the most important female poets in Tamil's two-thousand-and-five-hundred years of literary history, and certainly one of the best known, of any gender. Although people across the state of Tamil Nadu know many of her works by heart, she has received little attention outside India, owing largely to the lack of decent translations. The one comprehensive work in English, Avvaiyar, a great Tamil poetess, by C. Rajagopalachari (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1971), has long since been out of print and renders Avvaiyar's poems in accurate but wooden translations. This book, by contrast, seeks to render her finest songs in a supple and poetically charged English that allows both her intellect and poetry to shine.

Author Biography

Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma is an author, poet, teacher, and performer. His other books include The Kural: Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural, translated from the classical Tamil; The Safety of Edges: Poems, Body and Earth, with the artist C. F. John; and A Feast for the Tongue, co-authored with Dr. K. V. Ramakoti. He speaks and performs widely, teaches for Cozy Grammar, and makes his home on Vashon Island, WA, with his husband, David Mielke.