Maria Miraglia
Talking With Poet
February
2023
MARIA
MIRAGLIA: When did you approach poetry?
GAURI DIXIT: I was always fond of reading. I
would read everything that came my way, Marathi, English, fiction, nonfiction,
novels, stories. Not much of poetry though. It was sometime in 2013, when I
read poems pasted by a colleague in an internal forum. I then got interested in
reading poetry and eventually writing.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Do you think of anyone to dedicate your words
when writing?
GAURI DIXIT: I write
about life and its ironies. At times I write about love and nature. All these
poems are inspired by life experiences or observations of life. And they are
not dedicated to / inspired by any one person .
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Air, water, earth and fire. What element would
you like to be in poetic terms?
GAURI DIXIT: I would
love to be fire, for fire keeps life going even if it burns. Fire is always
true to to its nature, it does not take on any other colour like water and it
is not invisible like air. Fire is passion.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Do you listen to music while writing? If so,
what kind?
GAURI DIXIT: When I
listen to a song, I get immersed in its meaning, I connect with the words. That
is why I only ever listen to instrumental music while writing or studying.
Birdsongs also are an inspiration for writing.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: What did you feel when you held your first
book in
the hands?
GAURI DIXIT: Pure joy
and nothing but joy 🙂
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Where does poetry come from?
GAURI DIXIT: Poetry
often comes from a dark place, a lonely corner, a dingy alley where the words
are struggling to go out into light. At times even a sunny day could produce a
poem or two. Memories are always favourite haunts of my poems and so are
ironies of life.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Is there a time of the day when you prefer
writing?
GAURI DIXIT: Any time
that I have space and time is a good time to write poetry. Very early when
everyone else hasn’t woken up yet or very late when everyone has gone to sleep,
those are the best times to write.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Does writing come from the heart or from the mind?
GAURI DIXIT: I would
say both. When I am trying out forms, it is always the mind / brain that
understands the mechanics and chooses words very carefully and writes. And at
rest of the times, it is always the
heart.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: What do you think of poetry and poets on the
web?
GAURI DIXIT: I would
always be grateful that I found a group on the web called The Significant
League founded by Dr Ampat Koshy that encourages and nurtures poets. This is
where I learned to read and appreciate poetry, those is where I read some good
poetry and wrote some too. Web at times becomes a distraction however, the
focus gets shifted to people’s likes and comments, genuine feedback/ critique
is neither given nor accepted. Like every other place web has its share of good
and bad poets and poetry.
MARIA MIRAGLIA: Who are your favourite contemporary poets and
why?
GAURI DIXIT: I love
the poetry by Margaret Atwood. I was deeply impacted by her long poem half
hanged Mary. Margaret Atwood wrote this poem about her ancestor, Mary Webster.
She was accused, and acquitted of witchcraft and was lynched. She survived the
attack and thus earned her name, and her freedom. I love the poetry of Dr Ampat
Koshy, unique, edgy and interesting. He is also a wonderful teacher and mentor
to many. I love Dr Santosh Bakaya for her rich vocabulary and the varied
subjects that she writes her poems about, Sunita Singh for her simple and
powerful poems, Satbir Chadha for her calm voice, Feby Joseph for his fabulous
poetry, I could go on and on and on….
************
GAURI
DIXIT is a software professional from Pune writing in
English and Marathi. Gauri’s poems have been featured in Haiku KATHA, Learning
& Creativity, Glomag, Spillwords, Narrow Road etc. Her first collection 'In
My Skin I Find Freedom' was published in 2018 for which she won Reuel
International Prize - best upcoming poet.
beautiful
ReplyDeleteExcellent! Congratulations to the poet!
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