Indian diplomat’s poems translated into Italian

PATNA: The Alphabets of Latin America, a collection of poems penned by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay K, has been translated into Italian by Angela D’Ambra and published by Rome-based publisher Edizioni Efesto. The 108 poems paint a poetic portrait of Latin America, its various places, monuments, personalities, flora and fauna, festivals, cuisine, landscapes and mythologies arranged in alphabetical order from A-Z.
“The Alphabets of Latin America is welcomingly strong. Abhay K has a great sense of lineation, of understatement, of memorable, very particular images, and of manuscript structure. I also am moved by the way he can subtly use the elements of a place — the dream vision of Tenochtitlan (which was founded on a dream-vision) or the Borgesian paradox of looking for Borges and finding mirror reflections of the self. I love the way this abecedarian works and shifts between short and longer poems, refreshing our rhythms constantly. Also, it’s such a personal pleasure for me to re-see so many places that I know, through his eyes. It is a very original and thrilling book that opens the borders of time and place, which is what seems so necessary now in this epoch of nationalist entrenchment and paranoia,” wrote Forrest Gander, the Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry, about the book.
Similarly, Latin American poet Víctor Rodríguez Núñez writes: “Latin Americans must be grateful for the Indian poet Abhay K and this fundamental book. Armed with intelligence and sensitivity, with calculation and passion, The Alphabets of Latin America is a love poem that honours us as a society and culture.”
The Italian edition of the book carries a foreword by Italian author David Tozzo.
Abhay K has penned ten poetry collections, the most recently of The Magic of Madagascar, and the editor of The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems, CAPITALS, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems and New Brazilian Poems. His poems have been published in several literary journals, including Poetry Salzburg Review and Asian Literary Review. His ‘Earth Anthem’ has been translated into over 120 languages. He has received SAARC Literary Award 2013 and was invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress, Washington DC in 2018.