A Thousand Mornings

We are living at a pace today that leaves little space for wonder or the natural world. Even worse, there’s hardly any cognisance of how our consumption-driven lifestyle affects other species and lifeforms. Kunjana’s poems show how human lives are not just interwoven with nature but also mirror their patterns. Her debut collection They Gather Around Me, the Animals is centred around the animal kingdom, climate anxiety and a diminishing ecological balance. We speak to her about her journey, inspiration, and love for animals. 

Who were your early influences? My early influences were Mary Oliver and Louise Glück. I stumbled upon their work through Twitter of all places. But Twitter was good back then, there were a lot of poets on it and they used to share many wonderful poems with other poets. It was very generous of them. 

You won the 2024 Barbara Stevens Poetry Book Award for They Gather Around Me, the Animals. How long did you work on the volume? How did your publication journey begin? I think it took me about five years. I wasn’t consciously writing a manuscript all those years. It was only in the final year of putting the manuscript together that I realised I had enough poems for a book-length collection. So, I wasn’t very intentional with the entire process. My publication journey began in 2019 when my partner encouraged me to try sending out my work to magazines. I did a lot of it that year. That’s how it began. 

Where do you draw your inspiration from? My inspiration can come from anywhere — nature, people, objects, and ideas both real and surreal — but most importantly, I remain in the fertile state of inspiration when I am reading a lot of poems by other poets. 

You have a strong affinity with nature and animals. Where and how did that relationship begin? I live close to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park so the relationship began quite early for me, as a child. In my 20s, I stumbled upon the Sanctuary Asia magazine; it’s probably my favourite magazine in the world. Animals fascinate me. I like that each animal has its own sensorium; it can be similar to ours or completely different. I like to learn about animals when I’m feeling self-absorbed. It wakes you up to the reality that there are so many interesting creatures out there, and so much to learn. Eight times out of ten, this can lead me out of my self-inflicted misery and welcome me into a larger sense of wonder and curiosity. 

Are you working on a new collection? I have sent my second manuscript for consideration to a few places. I am both working and not working on my third collection. I keep getting distracted.

What does a normal day for you look like? Do you stick to a schedule? What’s your process like?  I am either reading continuously or not reading at all. Same with writing. I think I am most familiar with randomness as an emotion. That seems to be the constant. As for my process, usually a line or an image will come to me and “the process” will begin from there. Sometimes I have to force it if I have been away from my practice for too long and sometimes it happens more organically. 

Who’s the one Indian poet, besides yourself, whose work speaks to you? Lots, I think. It’d be difficult to name just one person and it also changes all the time. These days, I am thinking of this poem by Nikita Deshpande. 

A poetry volume that you go to when feeling down? Devotions by Mary Oliver. 

Your advice to first time poets. How long is the trail of rejection? What are some missteps to avoid? Don’t be in a rush to get feedback on your poems as soon as you have begun. Have faith in yourself. Let your work evolve organically. Be patient enough to see your own writing change over time. Also, develop good friendships. Don’t be stingy with praising your contemporaries. Tell them you like their work. Help out. Share opportunities.

This is a long game. Quick results are good but rare. So, keep at it. I would also say believe in the poems that resonate with you, the poems you seem to reread and revisit. Follow your obsessions in your own writing. Rejections are normal. Acceptances are the exceptions. There are no grave missteps as such. You will learn from everything if you are willing. Most things often make sense later. Have faith in your future self. You will be fine.

Kunjana is the poetry editor at The Bombay Literary magazine, and her works have appeared in Sixth Finch, The Adroit Journal, Poetry Northwest, Shō Poetry Journal, Four Way Review among others. When not working on poetry, Kunjana likes to listen to music, dabble in Vedic astrology, and collect good memes and funny tweets. You can read her poetry and order her book on Instagram.