Herstory is a topic very dear to my heart. I am always looking for females voices, especially those that have been hidden or erased from the offical versions of accounts. I want to know about the stories of women who shaped past events. I want to hear about their ingenuity and inventions. I want to know what they were like, where they lived and who they loved. I want to look at the stories we tell ourselves about the world and I want to see myself reflected within its annals.
I guess I've always been feminist in this regard but my quest for women's tales only grew stronger once I had two daughters. I wanted to share with them stories about the world that told them they could do anything that they set their minds and hearts to doing. If you're on this quest as well. I'd highly recommend the Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls series of books and the Little People Big Dreams picture book biographies about prominent female figures. Princess Smartypants is a wonderful picture book for young girls about a. sassy Princess who does not want to get married – she's too busy doing other things!
All of this is to say that I am beyond thrilled to announce that my poem, pathika, has been longlisted for the Heroines Anthology Global edition Prize.
Pathika is about the lives and poetry of three famous Indian poets. These women are well known in India but not as familiar to most readers in the west. Being from South Asia, I wanted my poem to reflect my heritage. No Greek goddesses for me! I was originally wanting to write a poem about female poets from Sri Lanka but they were quite hard to find given that I don't speak Sinhala or Tamil. So I looked to our neighbours for inspiration and found a whole wealth of material.
Big thanks to the Heroine's Anthology for choosing my poem!