Poets know everything, from Fibonacci numbers to equations, but the thing that they know best of all is that kindness is what really matters, says Sampurna Chattarji

Poetry is an empowering form of artistic expression. It can transcend formats and the so-called rules to touch upon subjects that are varied and thought provoking. 

On 7th May 2021, we had a conversation with Sampurna Chattarji discussing if poetry can be sci-fi. 

Sampurna Chattarji is a writer, translator, teacher, and editor. Her eighteen books include eight poetry titles, two novels, and a collection of short stories about Mumbai.

Beginning by unwrapping the topic of discussion, Chattarji says that when looked at in a deeper sense, it means that poetry is very subversive in which it doesn’t believe in or respect the false boundaries between genres, countries or languages. 

“Are aliens really us?” 

Chattarji says that poets are very often seen as eccentric outsiders. “Poets, we like to shapeshift, we like to travel freely – so too does poetry.” she says. 

Chattarji mentions that sci-fi is nothing more than a series of speculations – what could the future be? Writers and poets do this by looking closely at what is happening in the present. Poets are very acute observers of the present as a way of prophesying the future. 

“I hate the idea of being easily identified and categorised.” says Chattarji while continuing the conversation about ‘sci-fi’ poetry being out of the box and disregarding boundaries. Her characters are written in a way where sometimes their gender, origin and other identifying factors are at question. 

Talking about poetry styles, Chattarji says that she doesn’t think there is any such thing as a certain, specific poetic style. When a poet writes in a certain manner, eventually, their style becomes a signature and you start recognising a poet by their poetic style. Talking about her personal preference, she says she likes to look at poetic styles as clothes or accessories. She says that just like we dress for different occasions, she believes that poetic style has more to do with what the person needs at the moment and what is the atmosphere of the poem. 

“Style can be as fluid and as versatile as the poet itself.”

Upon being asked what all goes into the making of a poetry book, Chattarji says that along the way of structuring a book, poets will realise that the theme doesn’t always have to be so obvious. “You realise that an entire book could be constructed as a way of thinking your way through a very difficult subject.”

“I would advise young poets to step back a little from their material and say – a) How do I approach this theme?, and b) How obvious or how secret or subtle can I make the structuring be?” she adds. 

Moving forward, Chattarji talks about the various nuts and bolts involved in the process of writing poetry. “Feeling is what starts it. Feeling is the great internal motivation for moving towards poetry.” However, she goes on to add, without experimentation with reading and writing a lot of poetry – there’s not much that ‘feeling’ alone can do. Writing poetry is a constant process of learning and relearning. 

Closing the conversation, we ask Sampurna how writing poetry is different from writing short stories or novels. She says for her the pleasures are different in each form. “For a novel, you need the kind of stamina or fortitude that you need to run a marathon.” 

Sampurna concludes by saying she trusts her readers to get the intended meaning of her works. As long as she’s getting the emotion and atmosphere right, the reader will want to come in on the meaning on their own. 

“Learn the trade as if it were a trade.”

Watch the full conversation with Sampurna Chattarji here.