Home to Ballygunge: Kolkata Tanka by William Hart, Published by MET Press
DATE: May 2 , 2010 PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release
Home to Ballygunge: Kolkata Tanka by William Hart portrays the poet’s Indian family and their city with accuracy, insight, and a bit of magic. Hart’s poems and stories have appeared in several hundred journals, newspapers and anthologies, including most periodicals that feature English-language haiku or tanka. Readers will be charmed by this new collection of tanka poetry.
Baltimore, Maryland – May 2, 2010 –Home to Ballygunge: Kolkata Tanka by William Hart, has been published as a pocket paperback by MET Press of Baltimore, Maryland. Preparations for the book were begun inadvertently in the summer of 1986, when William Hart married his graduate school girlfriend in Kolkata (Calcutta at that time) and met several hundred of his new Bengali relatives. Return visits to India in the years since have convinced Hart that he does indeed have a home in the largely middle-class district of Ballygunge. In writing the poems, Hart tried to portray his Indian family and their city with accuracy, insight, and a bit of magic, as the subjects require. The sixty poems in the cycle borrow from the Japanese waka or tanka for their form.
William Hart’s poems and stories have appeared in several hundred journals, newspapers and anthologies, including most periodicals that feature English-language haiku or tanka. Nine of Hart’s poetry collections have been published, along with two well-received novels. One of his haiku collections, Paris, won a Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society of America in 1996. Hart also produces documentary films with his wife for PBS. Website at http://home.earthlink.net/~hartsarts.
Reviewers’ comments on Hart’s earlier books about South Asia:
Monsoon (Timberline Press, 1991)
"Bash would have approved of Mr. Hart’s Monsoon, for it is a traveller’s book of haiku that shares with the reader the author’s common and extra-ordinary experiences had during his journey from Kathmandu to Calcutta, Hyderabad and Bombay." —Kevin Bailey, Haiku Quarterly
"Moments of sheer revulsion and delicate beauty clearly express the earthiness and spiritual immensity of India and Nepal. The reader is momentarily swept into the vast and minute universe of Vishnu." —Ebba Story, Frogpond
Rabindra Sarobar (effing press, 2005)
"I love the literary snapshots of [Kolkata] in motion—the homeless, the bicycles, chickens headed for market, car horns—the vast clattering babble of the city’s streets." —John Berbrich, Barbaric Yawp
"Hart’s writing is wonderful and makes something beautiful out of horrible realities . . . . Recommended highly for its excellent poetic qualities and provocative subject matter." —Melody Sherosky, The Blind Man’s Rainbow
About the Author:
William Hart is a poet and fiction writer living in Los Angeles. During college and after, he worked in several states at a variety of labor jobs. He then earned a doctorate in English from the University of Southern California and taught college writing courses in LA. Presently he writes books and produces documentaries with his wife, Bengali filmmaker Jayasri Majumdar Hart. William Hart has published nine poetry collections and two well-received novels. Four poetry collections were haiku, and one of those, Paris, received a Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society of America in 1996. His poems and stories have appeared in several hundred journals, newspapers and anthologies, including most English-language periodicals that publish haiku or tanka. Two feature documentaries from Hartfilms played nationally on PBS and one of them, "Sisters of Selma," received regional Emmy nominations. See Bill’s website at home.earthlink.net/~hartsarts for more.
For media inquiries or to arrange an interview with the author, contact William Hart by e-mail at HartsArts@earthlink.net. Publisher information at: www.themetpress.com.
This book is available from www.Lulu.com/modernenglishtanka. Information is available online at www.themetpress.com Price: $11.95 USD. ISBN 978-1-935398-17-2. Pocket paperback. 72 pages, 4.25" x 6.87", perfect binding, 50# / 75gsm white interior paper, black and white interior ink, 100# / 270 gsm exterior paper, full-color exterior ink.
About MET Press:
MET Press (Modern English Tanka Press) is an independent publishing house in Baltimore, Maryland, dedicated to producing work of lasting literary value, especially fine verse. A family business, we treat our customers and partners in publishing like family. We use modern print-on-demand production and distribution methods. Our special mission is to promote the tanka form of poetry and to educate newcomers about this most ancient poetic form.
Contact: Denis M. Garrison, owner, MET Press / Modern English Tanka Press
443-559-2776 Email to dmg@themetpress.com www.themetpress.com
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