"Birds of North Europe" is a poem by

Tabish Khair Tabish Khair is an Indian English author and associate professor in the Department of English, University of Aarhus, Denmark. His books include ''Babu Fictions'' (2001), ''The Bus Stopped'' (2004), which was shortlisted for the Encore Award (UK ...

, the internationally acclaimed Indian English author and journalist. The poem won First Prize in the Sixth All India Poetry Competition conducted by

The Poetry Society (India) The Poetry Society (India) was formed in July 1984 at New Delhi as a voluntary association to promote Indian poetry and to look after the interests of Indian Poets. The founding members included the Indian poets Keshav Malik, J P Das, H K Kaul ...

in 1995. The poem brought the first major literary award for Tabish Khair, who is better known as a novelist of repute.

Excerpts from the poem

:Twenty-four years in different European cities and he had not lost :His surprise at how birds stopped at the threshold :Of their houses. Never :Flying into rooms, to be decapitated by fan-blades or carefully :Herded through open windows to another life, never :Building on this lampshade ::: ***** :Did not intrude into private spheres. demanding to be overlooked :Or worshipped. They did not consider houses simply :Exotic trees or hollowed :Hills. Not being particularly learned, he did not know the thread :Of fear that knots the wild to the willed, not :Being well-read, he :Did not remember the history behind their old and geometrical :Gardens, could not recall a time when the English :Parliament had killed a bill, :Shocked by a jackdaw's flight across the room. He simply marked :The absence of uncaged birds in their homes. He thought :It was strange.

Comments and criticism

The poem has received positive reviews since its first publication in 1995 in the book ''Emerging Voices'' and has since been widely anthologised. The poem has been frequently quoted in scholarly analysis of contemporary

Indian English poetry Indian English poetry is the oldest form of Indian English literature. Indian poets writing in English have succeeded to nativize or indianize English in order to reveal typical Indian situations. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio is considered the first ...

Notes

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References

Sixth National Poetry Competition 1988 - Award Winners An Interview with Tabish Khair

, ''Contemporary Indian Poetry''
by

Jeet Thayil Jeet Thayil (born 1959) is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is the author of several poetry collections, including ''These Errors Are Correct'' (2008), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award. His first novel, '' Narcopolis,'' ( ...

''India Writes'' - Contemporary Indian Poetry

Excerpts from the poem

Comments and criticism

See also

Notes

References

External links