Siddhartha Bose's debut collection of poems, Kalagora was published by Penned in the Margins in 2010. His play by the same name was performed in Edinburgh in 2011 to critical acclaim. In his play, and in his upcoming workshop with the Poetry School, Siddhartha focuses on the idea of the Megacity: how poets through history have responded to, written about and recreated the endless stimuli of urban living. Here, we talk to him about the definition of a Megacity, his poetry book of the same name and Baudelaire.
How would you define a ‘megacity’, and, for those of us who don’t know – can you describe what one is like?
A colossal city with more than 10 million inhabitants is the statistical definition of a megacity. I think the population of the metropolitan area of London is close to 14 million. It's definitely the city in Europe that looks and feels the part. I think a megacity makes individuals feel insignificant, and on other occasions, inspires them as we then realise that we're part of something much larger than ourselves. That can be liberating. Historically, poetry and poets have had a vital relationship with big cities. When Rimbaud came to London, he thought it made Paris look like a provincial town. And then when Lorca got to Manhattan in the early 20th century, he was simultaneously shocked, repulsed, and inspired by the sheer size and numbers of that megalopolis. Perhaps visitors to Mumbai now feel that same way.
Your play Kalgora travels from Mumbai to London via Manhattan on the eve of the Millenium, and your Poetry School workshop aims to look the ‘endless stimuli of urban living’ – what connections do you have to the cities you highlight in the play?
Well, the play is fiction with autobiographical elements. However, I did spend a significant portion of my childhood in Bombay, and I wandered in and out of NYC in the late 90s, and I've been based in London for the last seven years. So I guess I know parts of these cities fairly well.
With the play, and the book Kalgora, did you want to create a vision of the 21st century city and the differences between them?
The book of poetry developed over the course of eight years and Bombay, Calcutta, London, and New York appear in it as do certain other places. I see these cities as my dramatis personae, as living, breathing mammoth characters. The play, despite sharing the same name as the book, is a different beast. I started writing it - and filming in these three cities - during the summer of 2010. I don't think I ever could ever create a vision of the 21st century city (I wouldn't know what that would entail), but I do feel that the global megacity is one of the prime movers in contemporary literature, theatre, and art.
How will you be incorporating the idea of the mega city into your Poetry School workshop?
Baudelaire, one of the first truly modern poets, made the emerging industrialised city into the subject of lyric poetry, and poets from Eliot to Arun Kolatkar continued this tradition. An anthology like 'City State: New London Poetry' recently gave us a remarkable snapshot of exciting poetry being written by poets living in, and inspired by, London. Also, for the first time in human history the world has become predominantly urban. And this process of urbanisation is often messy. That's why I use the word 'grotesque' to describe this phenomenon. I'd like to use the workshop to collectively explore ideas related to the contemporary city, and to engage with them through the eye and ear of the poet, and to investigate what the city does to the writing process itself. In the end, for practising poets in London, it's all about responding to, and writing about, what you see around you.
To sign up to Siddhartha's Poetry School workshop, click here, or give The Poetry School a call on 0207 582 1679
