Lotus Gatherers - Softcover

Amali Rodrigo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1780372876 ISBN 13: 9781780372877

Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd, 2016

Synopsis

Amali Rodrigo's first collection is marked by a sense of being on a threshold between worlds. In South and East Asian religious symbolism, the lotus flower embodies the promise of purity and transcendence because it rises clear out of the muddy mire of its origins. It represents both abstract realms and the concrete phenomenal world. The lotus root is also an aphrodisiac. Whether the occasion of these poems are relationships, customs and superstition, war and its aftermath, the fabular or simply a piece of driftwood, they question scale, geographical and emotional distances, and our habitual gaze. At the heart of the collection are her multi-voiced Aftersongs exploring the nature of the male gaze, religious didacticism and artistic inspiration. This epigrammatic sequence is based on the ekphrastic graffiti-poems inscribed between the 8th and 10th centuries at a royal pleasure palace and fortress in Sri Lanka, addressing the frescoes of the beautiful 'cloud maidens'.

About this title

About the Author

Amali Rodrigo (now known as Amali Gunasekera) was born and grew up in Sri Lanka. She works in the field of Archetypal Psychology. After living in Mozambique, Kenya and India, she is now based in Cumbria. Her first collection, Lotus Gatherers, was published by Bloodaxe in 2016 (under her former name of Rodrigo). She was selected for Arts Council England's project Breaking Ground: Celebrating the Best British Writers of Colour in 2017. Her second collection, The Golden Thread, was published by Bloodaxe in 2022 (under her new name Gunasekera).

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloodaxe Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780372876
• ISBN 13: 9781780372877
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64