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Booking It Interview with Poet Aarti Nayar

Interview with local poet, Aarti Nayar.

Poet Aarti Nayar joins us today to talk about her poetry.  Aarti co-authored the book Eggshells of the Soul, which is available on Amazon.com. She holds a masters in Physics and a degree in teaching. She has taught ESL at Gwinnett Technical College for nine years.  But, she loves to write, which is a lucky thing for poetry lovers. Aarti wrote the children’s column in Khabar, an Indian monthly magazine out of Atlanta. She continues to write poetry and is currently doing readings in the Atlanta area.

Colleen: Welcome, Aarti. I appreciate your taking the time to share a little bit about your poetry with our readers.

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Aarti: It’s my pleasure, Colleen.

Colleen: Eggshells of the Soul is a beautiful collection of poetry. Would you tell us about it?

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Aarti: The idea for our book was the brainchild of Ricardo Jolly, one of the six  contributing poets in this book. We came together as a consequence of our association with the group Private Poetry Unveiled, founded by co-author, Lisa Andrews. We meet quarterly to present original works of poetry and prose in an open mic format. It’s a free event open to all lovers of the written art form.

The book itself is a reflection of our professional and cultural diversity. We each contributed between 4-6 poems towards it. It features universally felt emotions of love and separation penned from the unique perspective of each poet. Love and longing for a mate, a parent, one’s homeland or in some cases simply a longing for lost humanity. You will find poems that are a scholarly exposition of art and artists to ones that are vignettes of life’s meaningful moments. My contributions include A Winter Night—my attempt to memorialize in words a spectacular landscape, the Tsunami is an ode to the awesome power of nature and by contrast the smallness of man. The Photograph is a snapshot of one of the many great ironies of life while The Eight Black Boxes seeks to humanize and consequently pay tribute to the fallen soldier.

 

Colleen: I had the opportunity to hear you read some Dali-inspired poems. I loved them. They caused me to reconsider paintings I’d seen as a student, but never quite understood. Your poetry gave me a new way to think about the art. Where did the inspiration to write about the paintings come from?  How did you get the inspiration?

Aarti: Thanks, I’m flattered! A picture of his painting, The Persistence of Memory in The AJC was the source of my inspiration. In fact it inspired me to pen two different versions of the same painting. Subsequently, I wrote Dali-A Self  Portrait and Bread In A Basket based on his other paintings.

Colleen: May I share an excerpt from one with readers?

Aarti: Of course! How about sharing a bite from The Persistence of Memory?

Colleen: I hoped you would say that.  Here goes:

The Persistence Of  Memory

(An Excerpt)

Viscous drops

Of time

Like melting lava,

Roll off

The hot, palpable metal

Of the warped clock,

Hissing off into eternity…

Aarti: Getting these poems published is very much the idea…I have been researching and sending out my work to potential magazines, journals and poetry publishers.

Colleen: I know that is a daunting task, but I expect news of impending publication soon!  Aside from your research, what occupies your time most these days?

Aarti: Right now, promoting the book is an important focus. Interviews such as this one and an earlier one with the Johns Creek Herald are a huge help in getting the word out.

We are performing poetry readings around the metro-Atlanta area. Additional details are available on our Meetup and  Private Poetry Facebook  pages. We’d love to see some Eve readers there!

Also, My poem, I Sit Watching, was recently picked for publication by County Line, a local weekly. Written as a tribute to my late grandmother’s battle with cancer, its selection was particularly gratifying as it was picked in honor of the National Poetry Month.

Colleen: Congratulations!  I have no talent for poetry. It requires making a deep insight in so few words. I need lots of words to make my points. What do you like about poetry?

Aarti: I discovered my ability and desire to write poetry as a consequence of my participation in a few imagery exercises conducted by one of my fellow writers. All of a sudden I found a way to give voice to my endless musings and reflections. Much like a camera, my poems captured in words my emotion of that moment. Further, it allowed me to beautify those words, shape them, craft them using tools like metaphors and similes. Unlike prose, a poem isn’t bound by a beginning, middle or end and by that token makes for an easier process. On the flip side, its limited verbiage can present a challenge, one that I enjoy immensely. It helps hone vocabulary, certainly mine, and encourages a certain precision in its usage. All in all, it makes for an extremely sophisticated wielding of the language sword.

Colleen: How did you get started writing poetry? Do you write other genres, too?

Aarti: My introduction to the world of writing happened with children’s writing. I took a couple of courses, specifically for writing children’s non-fiction, from the Institute of Children’s Literature. Even though it was a children’s writing course, it was where I learned all the important skills of writing, ones I continue to use in my poetry.

 I wrote the children’s column for Khabar, an Indian monthly magazine out of Atlanta for a year.

Colleen: Do you have any words of advice for aspiring poets?

Aarti: Unlike prose, a poem does not accord its writer the space or time to establish or  support his point of view through a series of logical arguments and examples. In my personal opinion, a poet’s best chance to make an impression is by going straight for the jugular-in this case, the heart, his very own to begin with. A poem to me is an encapsulation of sincere, heartfelt emotion rather than an exclusive exercise in sophisticated word play or an indulgence in esoteric expression. If it can’t make me feel its emotion, it is only an empty shell constructed with beautiful words. I believe that while It maybe a house, to use the popular expression, its ways from being a home yet.

Colleen:  How did you and your co-authors get Eggshells of the Soul published?

Aarti: I along with my co-writers have self-published this book. The biggest advantage of this form of publishing is its accessibility to every writer. On the flip side the writer is also the one responsible for all the marketing. This is where being published out of a publishing house makes things a lot easier.

Colleen: I believe even most authors published through publishing houses now must do a significant amount of their own marketing, too. What is your opinion about epublishing vs. traditional publishing? Do you have any predictions about the future of books in terms of paper vs. electronic publications?

Aarti: I have not personally e-published, however, I do believe it is here to stay. The power of the web is only now beginning to unfold. Kindles, Ipads and Nooks of the world are the new face of story telling, not my personal favorite development but one I grudgingly accept.

Colleen: Our space is running out. I’ve so enjoyed talking with you, Aarti. Tell me where readers can find Eggshells of the Soul.

Aarti: I’ve enjoyed our conversation, Colleen. Thank you for your time. Our book, Eggshells Of The Soul, can be found and purchased at Amazon.com.

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