Kavya Sharma is a womanist, a poet and a fiction author. She independently works as a freelance editor, and is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Verse of Silence literary magazine. She has three books to her name, a poetry book called The Carmine Memories and two women's fiction novels, To Naddiyaa and All Seasons Alike. Apart from this, her poems have been featured in various anthologies. She has also been featured in various newspapers like The Asian News, Deccan Chronicle, Zoom Delhi, The Sunday Guardian, The Pioneer, BBC Nottingham Radio, etc. She has recently come out with the poetry book Struggle for Intimacy.

I chat with her about her book Struggle for Intimacy, how the book came to be, book recommendations, and much more.

Hello, Kavya! Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hi, I am Kavya. I was born in Mumbai, and raised in Delhi. I did my Masters in Creative Writing from University of Nottingham and my under-graduation in English Literature from University of Delhi. I am a trained Kathak dancer. I have four books to my name, two of which are poetry collections and two are Y/A women’s fiction. My recent release is my book of poems – Struggle for Intimacy and currently I am busy promoting it and working on a few editing projects.

If you could only describe your poetry book ‘Struggle for Intimacy’ in five words, what would they be?

Raw. Unsparing. Honest. Intimate. Historical.

Now tell us a little more about the book! What can readers expect?

Struggle for Intimacy is a book of poems on the post-colonial aftermath. These are poems on themes surrounding xenophobia, ethnocentrism, a need to find connect with one’s own culture and land, on love, womanism, and finding the self amidst all this chaos. The language of these poems is simple, raw and truly honest.

What was the moment when the idea of this book first came to be? What made you pursue it?

Honestly, these poems are partly based on true events and partly on the stories my grandmother told me about the freedom struggle under British Imperialism. What really motivated me to write the book were my own emotions in a foreign country. While I was pursuing my Masters from England, I did experience a bit of racism, and a general sense of my country and culture being third world. I was questioned for my accent and the kind of food I ate; I constantly struggled between my mother tongue and English, and art came to me in both languages. These things started bothering me, so I started writing poems as a release.

I also chose post-colonialism as my final thesis paper subject which helped in terms of research.

I think I’ve worked the hardest on this book, it took me 4 years – from leaving it to going back to it, to finally finishing it and having the courage to get it published. I feel relieved, because this book is really close to my heart.

What different themes and topics have you discussed in the poems in this book?

These are poems dealing with the themes of finding the self, a constant struggle between English and my mother tongue as languages, on self-love, feminism, the patriarchal set up, missing one’s own culture, and most importantly post-colonialism.

When did you start writing poetry? Which poets have been your inspirations?

I started writing poetry pretty early on in my life; I was hardly 8-9 years old when I wrote my first poem. In fact, my journey as a writer began with poetry, and that’s why it’ll always have a special place in my heart. Fiction writing came much later.

The poets that inspire me are Kamala Das, Gulzar, Meena Kandasamy, Rumi, Sylvia Plath and Kahlil Gibran.

How have you been coping with the current pandemic and what will be the new normal for you post it?

Initially, I was fine and the uncertainty did not disturb me much. I guess like everyone else, I suddenly found the time to work on my other hobbies and passions but then came an anxious time, I was finding no motivation and exposure to work on my art and that disturbed me.

For me work wise, nothing really changed much since I have been a Freelancer from the start of my career. I have been working from home for the past 4 years now, so that didn’t affect me much.

Post normalcy, work wise won’t be much different, except maybe I’ll get to go to more book related events freely. I’d also love to travel more.

What are you reading currently? Do you have any poetry book recommendations for readers who enjoyed ‘Struggle for Intimacy’?

Currently I am reading this book called Power Hour: How to Focus on Your Goals and Create a Life You Love by Adrienne Herbert. My father gave it to me and it’s highly motivating.

Some poetry books that I really loved reading are The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, Selected Poems: Gulzar, Ms Militancy by Meena Kandasamy, and of course my favourite Collection of Poems by Kamala Das.

The book ‘Struggle for Intimacy’ is available online and at your nearest bookstore.