Featured Poet: Shanta Acharya

Eyewear is very glad to welcome, this rain Friday in London, the British poet Shanta Acharya - pictured here. Acharya was born in India and won a scholarship to Oxford, where she was among the first women admitted to Worcester College. She completed her doctoral thesis before going to Harvard as a Visiting Scholar. Later, she joined Morgan Stanley Asset Management in London, and subsequently worked in the City with various firms. She was Executive Director at London Business School from 2002-08.

Acharya is a poet and literary critic as well as author of books and articles on asset management. Her doctoral study, The Influence of Indian Thought on Ralph Waldo Emerson, was published by The Edwin Mellen Press, USA. Her five books of poetry are Dreams That Spell The Light (Arc Publications, 2010), Shringara (Shoestring Press, 2006), Looking In, Looking Out (Headland Publications, 2005), Numbering Our Days’ Illusions (Rockingham Press, 1995) and Not This, Not That (Rupa & Co, India; 1994).

She is also the founder of Poetry in the House, a series of monthly poetry events at Lauderdale House in north London, which she has been hosting since 1996.

Days

Days depart silent, marching solo solemnly.

Turning the key in my door absentmindedly

I enter my home; the alarm screams like a banshee.

I feed her with secret codes to keep her happy.

There’s a phone message from a stranger, left in error;

1471 informs me the caller withheld their number.

As I switch on the radio, plug the kettle for tea,

the blackberry vibrates on the kitchen table in ecstasy.

By the time I respond I’m left with missed calls.

The postman rings twice, I fly down the stairs;

No one’s there. A card says someone called, I wasn’t in;

proof I did not imagine hearing the postman ring.

The card informs me I can collect the letter

24 hours later at the post office, it needs my signature.

There’s some malarkey outside. I open the door

thinking I’d catch the postman, rescue my letter.

I meet a woman who can’t find the key to her car

with the children inside, is it in this street or another,

for the life of her she cannot remember!

The microwave beeps when milk for tea is ready,

takes deep breaths to calm down, remain cool and steady.

I switch on my computer; it springs into action

like a magician conducting numerous tasks with precision,

Greets me with the message: Path cannot be found!

After all these years not being able to understand

Each other, my personal computer and I are destined

for divorce. I email, blog, tweet, text; respond

to pending messages on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Settling down to dinner with TV and a thriller,

as if on cue, the landline and mobile phones ring together.

When I call back, the universe is otherwise engaged.

Leaving messages all over the place saying I called –

I set the alarm for next morning before I go to bed;

switch off, have a long, silent conversation with God.

poem by Shanta Acharya; reprinted with permission of the author.

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart? A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional. Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were. For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ? Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets. But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ? How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular. John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se....

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Poetry is, of course, a part of literature. But, increasingly, over the 20th century, it has become marginalised - and, famously, has less of an audience than "before". I think that, when one considers the sort of criticism levelled against Seamus Heaney and "mainstream poetry", by poet-critics like Jeffrey Side , one ought to see the wider context for poetry in the "Anglo-Saxon" world. This phrase was used by one of the UK's leading literary cultural figures, in a private conversation recently, when they spoke eloquently about the supremacy of "Anglo-Saxon novels" and their impressive command of narrative. My heart sank as I listened, for what became clear to me, in a flash, is that nothing has changed since Victorian England (for some in the literary establishment). Britain (now allied to America) and the English language with its marvellous fiction machine, still rule the waves. I personally find this an uncomfortable position - but when ...

THIS YEAR'S BAFTAS

Last year, Eva Green won the Rising Star award at the Orange BAFTAs - and this year the ceremonies promise to be even more glamorous. The striking film writers in America silenced the Golden Globes, and look set to do the same for the Oscars, which means London may get a world-class awards night. Eyewear , like all UK citizens, has yet to see some of the films nominated (members get sent copies to watch at home in some instances before general release), but can make some predictions - want to bet? Atonement will likely win Best Film. The Bourne Ultimatum should win Best British Film, though Control may do. The Bourne trilogy was astonishingly good genre work, and has rejuvenated The Bond series in the process, so deserves the kudos. Film Not In The English Language should go to The Lives of Others . Lead Actor will be Daniel Day-Lewis . Lead Actress will be the brilliant Julie Christie , whose work in the superb Canadian film Away From Her was so brave, and moving. Ja...

E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

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