Description

An initiative of Red River and Indian Novels Collective

Hummingbirds are distinguished by their dazzling colours, diminutive size, and speedy flight, the only birds that can fly backwards, upside down, sideways, and hover in mid-air. Sighting a hummingbird also signals that challenging times are over and healing can begin. These little birds are also a sign of hope and spiritual significance. They are also critically endangered species, facing the prospect of extinction due to climate change.

Since publishing poetry is considered perhaps the most adventurous or perilous creative journey, curating a poetry series in the name of hummingbirds literally and metaphorically affirms our faith in the commitment and belief in the power of small to achieve the impossible.

Inspired by Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan activist and the first woman Nobel Peace Prize winner from Africa, who pioneered Green Belt Movement, and a great believer in the power of hummingbirds, we believe that our Hummingbirds Chapbook Series, a joint initiative of Red River and Indian Novels Collective, will energise poets and poetry lovers to come together and help create a republic of imagination.

Mamta Sagar is an acclaimed Kannada poet and translator from Bengaluru. She has authored five poetry collections and four plays. Her translation of Elif Shafak’s Forty Rules of Love into Kannada (2017) was conferred with Bhasha Bharathi Translation Award. She is a recipient of the World Literary Prize 2024, a prestigious international award. Mamta has facilitated numerous international cross-cultural literary projects. Her poetry films and murals are installed and showcased at metro stations and public spaces. Professor Sagar teaches at the Srishti Institute of Manipal University, Bengaluru.

Dr Chitra Panikkar recently retired as Senior Professor from the Dept of English, Bangalore University. She began her teaching career in the University of Hyderabad, where she taught at the Centre for Comparative Literature for eight years and at the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies for six years. Her PhD thesis was on James Joyce and Marcel Proust after which she worked for a year at the James Joyce Foundation in Switzerland. Her research interests have spanned areas of translation, questions of identity, and illness narratives. She has also been socially active on issues of caste and gender.