After the Last Kiss (Harper21)

Mandakranta Sen’s poetry is that rare blend of passion and rebellion, invoking the fullness of physical and emotional desire for love and the lover, yet refusing the orthodoxy of the traditional relationship and the inevitable subjugation of the woman in such relationships. Replete with images from the contemporary world and overwhelming with intensity that informs every word and line, her poetry is simultaneously a homage to love and a rejection of its social construct. Ever since her debut on the literary stage with her book of poems, The Heart's A Disobedient Girl (Hridoy Awbadhho Meye) at the age of just twenty-seven for which she won an Ananda Puraskar, Sen has continued to write her poetry in sharp yet delightful cadences. These eleven poems, all from her first book, show just why her poetry is an anthem for mutinous passions.