Losing My Ways: Poems (Paperback - 2008)

Losing My Way, Shiv K. Kumar’s seventh collection of poems, adds a new dimension to his poetic craft and vision. Already recognized as one of the most leading Indian-English poets, he has now voyaged through a much wider landscape of human concerns—personal, moral, social and religious. What is remarkable about him is his courage to confront the baffling contradictions of human existence instead of glossing over them. This is manifest in his poem ‘Bhishmapitamha to Yudhishter Dharamaraj’.

The real power behind his verse lies in his striking images and metaphors which are ingeniously conceived. But, above all, it is his playful irony that both delights and provokes. No wonder, Khushwant Singh considers him ‘a gifted poet’.

Here is a book to read, enjoy and ponder over.

Shiv K. Kumar—poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, translator and critic—was born in Lahore. He holds a doctorate in English from the University of Cambridge. He has received many awards for his literary achievements. In 1978, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (London), and in 2001 he was awarded Padma Bhushan in recognition of his poetic eminence. In 1988, he received the Sahitya Akademi award for his collection of poems Trapfalls in the Sky which has been translated into Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. His other collections of poetry comprise Articulate Silences, Cobwebs in the Sun, Subterfuges, Woolgathering, and Thus Spake the Buddha. His poems have appeared in The New York Times, Poetry Review (London), Western Humanities Review, Southern Review, Ariel, Hemisphere, Trafika (Prague), etc. and broadcast over the BBC.