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Distributed for Seagull Books

The World Is Made Up Every Day

Collected Poems

Translated by Saudamini Deo
A prominent Hindi poet’s compelling testament to the struggles and resilience of India’s marginalized communities.

A voice of the marginalized and a staunch critic of the establishment, Alok Dhanwa brilliantly captures the ethos of a turbulent era in India through his poetry. Born in 1948, in Munger, Bihar, he witnessed the rise and fall of political movements and wrote against the backdrop of the Maoist and Naxalite struggles. This collection, the first book-length translation of his work into English, brings a glimpse of a volatile nation coming to grips with its own existence to new readers.
 
His poetry highlights the ongoing fight for justice and identity in an ever-changing state that remains starkly relevant to the contemporary Indian polity. Dhanwa’s writing is a beacon for the working class, a testament to resistance, and a reminder that the struggle for a better world is both eternal and essential. In his universe, love, rebellion, armed resistance, and the everyday coexist. With World Is Made Up Every Day, he paints a vivid portrait of rural India’s landscapes and humanity’s capacity to defy power in all its forms. This book is not just a collection of poems; it is a call to keep the spirit of resistance alive and to live meaningfully in a world that constantly evolves but often remains unchanged.
 

80 pages | 6.25 x 9.25 | © 2025

The India List

Poetry


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Table of Contents

Translator’s Introduction
1.Mango Tree
2.Rivers
3.Goats
4.Slumber
5.Body
6.Mir
7.District Magistrate
8.What Saved My Soul
9.Desire
10.Commence Firing Poster
11.Theatre
12.Awe Like Watermelon
13.Light of the First Film
14.Distinction
15.Price
16.Rail
17.About Myself
18.Seven Hundred Year Old Verse
19.Painter
20.Sunset Evenings
21.Sky like Winds
22.Junction
23.Streets
24.Autumn Nights
25.Ocean and Moon
26.Trail
27.Birds and Stars
28.Convoy
29.Girls on Roofs
30.Chowk
31.A Hungry Child
32.Kite
33.Outside the Conch

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