Leaping towards the Deep Blue Sky brings together the work of three generations of Ambedkarite women poets from Maharashtra. The poems chart a journey through the formative currents of early Dalit feminist writing to the emergent queer, contemporary, political expressions of today.
Translated from Marathi to English by Shreeja Rao and Shrujana N. Sridhar, Edited by Shrujana N. Sridhar, with a foreword by Urmila Pawar, Leaping towards the Blue Sky includes the works of visionary poets like Hira Bansode. Dr. pradnya Pawar, Ushakiran Atram, and Disha Pinky Sheikh. It traces a living history of struggle, sisterhood, and Dalit feminist articulation – opening a vital literary tradition to new readers.
This is an attempt to gather the voices of thirteen poets across three eras of the movement – each articulating an embodied experience of Dalit womenhood: resisting Brahminical patriarchy, building resilient communities, standing firmly in anti-caste conviction, dreaming of autonomy, and lastly, finding freedom in the process.
By Sarasvati Thuppadolla
We see the world around us closely when Dalit women write. As a first-generation graduate in my family, I fell in love with writing in all its forms early on. Driven by the urge to write about all that triggered a churn in me, the joy of life as well as the anger against injustice, particularly experienced by the women around me. In my readings of Dalit women’s poetry, I initially found deepest resonance in the words of Dalit poet Jyoti Lanjewar. Her poem “Mother” struck a chord with me… Read more