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​LONG ISLAND/NYC, NY, USA​

2019: Long Island/NYC

2019 Poet-of-Honor: Yogesh Patel from the UK!

2019: Long Island/NYC, NY, USA

City: New York City/Long Island.
Poet of Honor: Yogesh Patel.
Special guest: Salman Rushdie.
Participating organizations/universities: Hunter college, NYU, Nassau Community College, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge University, Private reading at church, Cambridge & The Red Room.
Funded by: Nassau Foundation, NYU Global Studies and Poets and Writers.
Featured poets: Yogesh Patel, Kavita Jindal, Pramila Venkateswaran, Ravi Shankar, Zilka Joseph, Vivek Sharma, Ralph Nazareth, Vikas Menon, Sophia Naz, Yuyutsu Sharma, Usha Akella, Indran Amirthanayagam.
Cultural Segment: None.
​
Directors Pramila and Usha see the fruition of their vision- website & branding, collaborating with three NYC colleges (NCC, Hunter and NYU), sponsorship by Poets & Writers, and launching the e-anthology in 2019. The work was achieved in five months since the close of Matwaala 2018. The fabulous website and branding was designed by young designer Francisca Li who put scores of hours into the project. Anannya Akella offered brilliant poster designs. The projects were made possible in true Matwaala community spirit with donations by poets. 

2019 Participating poets are UK poets: Yogesh Patel (poet-of-honor) and Kavita A. Jindal. US Poets: Pramila Venkateswaran, Ravi Shankar, Zilka Joseph, Vivek Sharma, Ralph Nazareth, Vikas Menon, Sophia Naz, Yuyutsu Sharma, Usha Akella and Indran Amirthanayagam.
About 2019 Matwaala Festival:
  • https://www.pw.org/content/matwaala_poets_and_the_new_york_city_polyphony 
  • https://www.thehindu.com/books/matwaala-seeks-to-highlight-the-immigrant-experience-in-verse/article26886526.ece
  • https://www.awpwriter.org/magazine_media/writers_chronicle_view/4640/drunk_on_words_matwaala_festival_of_south_asian_poets_of_the_diaspora_2019
Picture

Read more about the 2019 Festival with this Recap by Usha Akella:

Day 1: April 3, 2019, NYU:
Our thanks to Tim Tomlinson & Global Studies department, NYU for the Matwaala opening at NYU. No words can really express our gratitude to you Tim for making the connection, your superb hospitality, enthusiasm, and belief in the South Asian poetic voice. We hope many more colleges and universities will follow your lead to welcome us as you did at NYU. You rounded it off with a delicious Indian buffet, a thoughtful gesture that was so appreciated. So glad we got to unveil the Matwaala mug and honor Yogesh Patel (UK), poet-of-honor at this event who in turn released Kavita Jindal's book.
We are not going to forget anytime soon that unexpected audience member- Salman Rushdie- who quietly sauntered in, and so graciously stayed and left after listening to ALL the poets read. Sophie, thank you for facilitating this bonus surprise.

Day 2: April 4, 2019, Nassau Community College: 
Intense panel discussion by Kavita Jindal, Yogesh Patel, Zilka Joseph, Sophia Naz and Usha Akella on migration and its effect on the language of poetry (migration across and within continents), reinvention of form and language as a result of migration, feminist themes in our writing, how feminism is marked by cultural differences and particular local experiences, how personal/ political situations enter our writing and capture our imagination....This was followed by an amazing poetry reading by the features. The student reading sponsored by the Muslim Students Association was wonderful--so much talent among our students. Lovely to hear poems in Urdu, Arabic and English.  

And a dash to the Red Room with Tom Tomlinson at 7 p.m.



Day 3: April 5, 2019: Hunter College, Meena Alexander Memorial Reading:
Sign-off Matwaala Fest reading at Hunter College Asian American Studies Program on April 5th in memory of Meena Alexander. A moving evening attended by Meena's husband David Lelyveld and many others as poets paid tribute to Meena with her poems and their own. The Matwaala collective wrote a collective poem and gifted it to David, Hunter College's Vivian Louie and Poets and Writer's Bonnie Marcus. Poets spoke of their associations with Meena, her influence on their work supported by a slide show of photographs in the UK, US and elsewhere... Meena's poetry books and articles by scholars such as Dr. Amritjit Singh were displayed. The event ended with David's gracious acknowledgment of the event.
In the years to come, Matwaala will continue to honor senior poets, and create platforms for upcoming/established and establishing poets... It was a heartfelt fest of new bonds, surprises and poignant poetry from Sri Lanka, India, US, UK, Nepal, and Pakistan. Thank you to all who added to the intoxication.

Poet-of-Honor: Yogesh Patel

SeaWorld
(From Swimming with Whales, Skylark Publications UK)
 
Born and bred in homelessness
A home that is a pond, a migrant’s world
I have to perform: every move watched
Corrected by a man on the nose!
I am a damned foreigner
If released in the wild
It means a fresh alienation
Returning home as someone else
 
The formation dance here: slavery
The formation in the wild:
Means to hunt as a pack
Creating waves as a family
To topple the seal from its
Shaky small ice island
Is only a spiritual world
The hunt is a social bond
The hunt is a cultural home
The hunt is a language
 
 
Pleasing the spectators
Delighting the masters
To earn the scraps for a living
Is not the avant-garde art
This pond is a beggar’s delight
In this mini – virtual - sea
Are torn alien cultures, trapped
Freedom is a chasm, your version
 
A sea is a scary place      
If your home is the SeaWorld
I am a migrant afraid of home
Homelessness is my sanctuary!
A Big Welcome
 
There is nothing new
In feeling alienated
In your own cold home
 
Welcome to the Thames
Its heart isn’t big enough
It’s your new cold home
 
One day we will meet
We will compare notes

Interview with Yogesh

Yogesh Patel Interview by Usha Akella
Picture

More about Yogesh:

Yogesh Patel

Photos!

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MATWAALA

WEBSITE CONCEPTUALIZATION BY USHA AKELLA
LOGO, BRANDING AND WEBSITE DESIGN BY FRANCISCA LI
  • Home
  • People
    • Directors >
      • Usha Akella, Founder & Director
      • Pramila Venkateswaran, Director
    • Matwaala Ambassadors >
      • Kashiana Singh
      • Zilka Joseph
    • Advisory Team
    • Volunteer Poets
    • FRIENDS of Matwaala
    • Matwaala Poets
  • Festivals
    • 2015
    • 2017
    • 2018
    • 2019
    • 2020
    • 2021 - 23
    • 2024
    • 2025
    • Poets-of-color Series: 2021-2025
    • Testimonials
  • Projects
  • Publications
    • MAPS
  • Media
  • Critical Work
    • Interviews
    • Articles
    • Reviews
  • Matwaala Youth - Sync Poetry
    • Key Initiatives
    • Our Team
    • Poetry Submissions!
    • 2021: A Beginning >
      • July 2021 Open Mic: Confidence
      • September 2021 Open Mic: Connection
      • October 2021 Ghost Stories and Poetry: Creation
    • 2022: Outreach >
      • Week of Expression! >
        • Open Mic: July 25, 2022
        • Speed Poetry: July 26, 2022
        • Repetitive Poetry: July 27, 2022
        • Style Mirroring: July 28, 2022
        • Let's Play a Game: July 29, 2022
    • Personal Projects >
      • Sara's Work
      • Diya's Work
  • Resources
  • Contact