In the world of literature poetry is a subculture and a secondary art form to other genres, particularly fiction and non-fiction. The famous poet W.H. Auden has aptly put forward the thesis: “poetry makes nothing”.
The repetitive and common question that most poets face is as why they write poetry. The question per se augments negativity to this unpopular art. Yet the dichotomy of poetry is startling—it is widespread; non-commercially, and the traditional media shying away from it. If so, what’s the significance of poetry then?
Poetry is derived from the Medieval Latin word poetria and poet origins from the Latin word poetia. The history of poetry starts from as early as the first known civilizations the world. Critical writers and historians have stated that poetry, perhaps, predates literacy. The argument comes from the concept that poetry was used as a form to maintain the oral history of tradition, culture, religion and events to pass on to the next generation when language hadn’t developed to its full form to writing. The first significance of poetry is that it preserves the human civilization in the outset of emotions combined with unstructured logic and denies the celerity of a nation’s death. It is often argued that poetry bears no thought process and is merely a short-form of bubbling emotions. Several poets over the decades have argued against such statement and have defended on their own. Irrespective of the general view about poetry, the media and publishers too haveplayed a role in belittling it. This behaviour doesn’t augur well for the growth ofEnglish poetry in Nepal.
'If you visit the websites of most traditional publishers in India and Nepal then you’ll know that most of them cater to fiction and non-fiction writers. The latest genres to sweep away the book industry are self-help, spirituality, urban romance, and cliché books. If publishers are to be blamed solely, then book readers are none to second to deserve the wrath of poets. Even published poets complain that their books rarely sell and barely few buy it.'
On that preface I have a bad news for aspiring poets in Nepal. Especially those who write in English. It is almost impossible to get published and then make a living out of it. We just can’t blame the publishers for hesitating to publish the work of poetry. If you visit the websites of most traditional publishers in India and Nepal then you’ll know that most of them cater to fiction and non-fiction writers. The latest genres to sweep away the book industry are self-help, spirituality, urban romance, and cliché books. If publishers are to be blamed solely, then book readers are none to second to deserve the wrath of poets. Even published poets complain that their books rarely sell and barely few buy it. Only those who focus on a particular topic are likely to become famous in their lives or those who barge into the bandwagon of literary tricks perform well. Others wait till their death to get known like Sylvia Plath who won the Pulitzer Prize posthumously. Poetry, in short, is already declining in the western world. In Nepal, however, it is just emerging as a strong genre.
English Poetry in Nepal had its evolution backto the opening of schools to the public post-Rana era in the 1950s. While the figures of fiction writers are known to most people and the world; the poets, on the other hand, have been pushed to the shadows by the culture of groupism and syndicate writing in Nepal. It is unfortunate to say that most fiction writers in Nepal have nurtured the superior attitude towards poetry writers as they feel that anyone can write a poetry. A short form of writing, perhaps, in their own words cannot be termed as a proper writing. This attitude significantly resonates in the western world too. A young fiery poet soon realizes in the course of time that writing a poem would not guarantee a space for him in the ever-changing world. The problem with the commercialization of literature and writers; novelists and poets, who are trying to make a survival from it is significantly fading since the advent of new media and technology. Not everyone can become the next J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath and several other bestseller writers. So why even write?
The existential question about why to write and how to consider a writing is bad or good is debatable. We have scores of writers who have self-published and became famous. Others have (self) published and never made it to the headlines. It is not just poets that suffer from the lethargic sale of books. Fiction writers too have to bear the brunt but they do little better than poets whose books are placed somewhere in the bookstore and rarely anyone comes to buy it. The representation and media coverage of poets too in Nepal is negligible. They are not only underrepresented but also not given spaces in so-called literature festivals in Nepal. This culture, unlike in west where all genres are promoted and respected, in Nepal has seriously undermined the contributions, significance and thefuture of Nepalese English poetry.
I hope this trend and attitude towards English poetry in Nepal changes over the years and that enough space is given to poets too. So that the future poets don’t have to feel that their writings are secondary and inferior to fiction writers and go to hiding to write, almost sub rosa, never to be known and failing to add richness to the English Literature of Nepal.
Twitter: @arunbudhathoki
