'Waves, Waves, Waves':
I think it is a really powerful anthology of poems that provides a
profound, unsettling but also stimulating insight into the impact of
interventions - natural, economic, military, social, political and cultural -
on life in Batticaloa. Your critical voice, passionate commitment to
people's right of self determination and belief in the capacity and
resources of indigenous communities (their ability to secure their own
development and prosperity if only they were allowed to) is very well
expressed. The themes of development, education, natural resources, war and
globalisation have reach and relevance far beyond the village
communities of Batticaloa to which you immediately refer.
Yours is a unique perspective on the impact of the tsunami and the
destructive 'wave' of mostly Western intervention that happened afterwards.
It is a perspective that has not been heard enough by citizens of
Western societies responsible for so many problems across the world. It
would be good to do more to make sure these poems are widely read.
I found 'Mobile People' particularly uncomfortable and unsettling, and
will use the following passage in teaching of applied theatre students
in Manchester interested in 'theatre for development' -
Oh! What a great tragedy!
The experienced mobile people
Are in turmoil now
Not because of helplessness
In the hands of nature
But because of the restlessness
In the hands of neo invaders
Who came with their own prescriptions
And pills to relieve us
And with differently designed
Dissection tool kits and microscopes
And surely with pots of gold
In order to reconstruct us again
According to them in this neo global order (p16)
The title of the anthology expresses a sense of ongoing crisis of the
'developing' world as powerful nations find new 'globalised' ways to
exploit its resources. The tsunami emerges as a brutally real metaphor for
successive interventions that put the resources and infrastructure that
might otherwise guarantee prosperity for Sri Lanka at risk. The
ultimate tone is not negative however - the poem on the cover of the anthology
('We have to live!') expresses faith in the capacity of world and its
people to live better - a sentiment which I hope will stay with us all
despite the many difficulties that people struggle with all over the
world.
Jenny Hughes
In Place of War
Drama, Martin Harris Building
School of Arts, Histories and Cultures
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
UK
I think it is a really powerful anthology of poems that provides a
profound, unsettling but also stimulating insight into the impact of
interventions - natural, economic, military, social, political and cultural -
on life in Batticaloa. Your critical voice, passionate commitment to
people's right of self determination and belief in the capacity and
resources of indigenous communities (their ability to secure their own
development and prosperity if only they were allowed to) is very well
expressed. The themes of development, education, natural resources, war and
globalisation have reach and relevance far beyond the village
communities of Batticaloa to which you immediately refer.
Yours is a unique perspective on the impact of the tsunami and the
destructive 'wave' of mostly Western intervention that happened afterwards.
It is a perspective that has not been heard enough by citizens of
Western societies responsible for so many problems across the world. It
would be good to do more to make sure these poems are widely read.
I found 'Mobile People' particularly uncomfortable and unsettling, and
will use the following passage in teaching of applied theatre students
in Manchester interested in 'theatre for development' -
Oh! What a great tragedy!
The experienced mobile people
Are in turmoil now
Not because of helplessness
In the hands of nature
But because of the restlessness
In the hands of neo invaders
Who came with their own prescriptions
And pills to relieve us
And with differently designed
Dissection tool kits and microscopes
And surely with pots of gold
In order to reconstruct us again
According to them in this neo global order (p16)
The title of the anthology expresses a sense of ongoing crisis of the
'developing' world as powerful nations find new 'globalised' ways to
exploit its resources. The tsunami emerges as a brutally real metaphor for
successive interventions that put the resources and infrastructure that
might otherwise guarantee prosperity for Sri Lanka at risk. The
ultimate tone is not negative however - the poem on the cover of the anthology
('We have to live!') expresses faith in the capacity of world and its
people to live better - a sentiment which I hope will stay with us all
despite the many difficulties that people struggle with all over the
world.
Jenny Hughes
In Place of War
Drama, Martin Harris Building
School of Arts, Histories and Cultures
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
UK
