We inhabit everything that comes our way: people, places, nature. Writing itself is our habitat. It is this space that Bashabi Fraser that explores in her new collection Habitat. These poems challenge our understanding of rules and form when it comes to poetry. Bashabi plays with the duality that her life has instructed her with – through having lived in two different countries, experiencing two different cultures – yet allowing the parallels to still come through. At its core, this collection is about our journeys – where we have been, where we are going, and what we are moving through. It is all about our habitats and our connection to them. 

Lakshmi’s Footprints and Paisley Patterns: Perspectives on Scoto-Indian Literary and Cultural Interrelationships is a unique collection of essays that comprehensively discusses the nature of interrelationship of India and Scotland spread over the last two centuries. It covers areas such as nature writing with an emphasis on Alexander Hamilton and Patrick Geddes, role of the formative history of Scottish Churches College, Disruption Movement in Scotland and Calcutta, rise of surveillance literature, dichotomy of Homeland and Hostland, Vidyasagar and Scottish transactions, Scottish missionary movement in Kalimpong, Scottish war literature, and interface of Scottish and Indian legal systems. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Bhutan)

Through oral histories, interviews and fictional retellings, 'Bengal Partition Stories' unearths and articulates the collective memories of a people traumatised by the brutal division of their homeland.

This book throws new light on post-colonial evaluations of the Partition and its effect on eastern India. Until very recently, a striking state of near silence' has existed concerning the violence encountered by those who fled across the Bengal border. Bengal Partition Stories addresses this silence through the retelling of stories inspired by the division of Bengal, the mass exodus that followed and their repercussions on the cultural, social and economic character of the region, modern India as a whole and the newly-formed nation of Bangladesh. Despite numerous critical enquiries into the history, politics and social dynamics that contributed to the partition of Bengal, there remains a distinct lack of in-depth exploration into the personal experiences of those directly affected. Through oral histories, interviews and fictional retellings of the event and its aftermath, Bengal Partition Stories seeks to fill this gap by unearthing and articulating the collective memories of a people traumatised by the brutal division of their homeland. Through oral histories, interviews and fictional retellings of the event and its aftermath, Bengal Partition Stories seeks to fill this gap by unearthing and articulating the collective memories of a people traumatised by the brutal rupture of their homeland.

This edited volume critically assesses different aspects of five literary genres – novels, poetry, short-stories, drama, and non-fictional prose – contributed to by the Indian diasporic writers settled principally in North America and Europe. Films made by or on members of the Indian diaspora have been also checked out. The predominant approach in the anthology is not only a feminist one, although special emphasis is given on assessing the writings by females. The emphasis of the anthology is on: (a) critical analyses of themes, styles, diction, and relevance of the writings; (b) assessment of the research potentialities of these writings; (c) examining how literary theories could be used for explaining and assessing the writings; (d) proper contextualization of the writings; and (e) finding out the historical roots and suggesting the future 'prospects' of such writings. The essays included in the book re-read Indian diasporic writings for their appreciable points as well as those which need development. The collection fills in lacuna of critical approaches to Indian diasporic writings presently available in the market. In fact, there is scarcely any book presently available that covers critical approaches to all the five literary genres of Indian diasporic writings.

A collection of poetry on the themes of motherhood, empowerment, love and loss by acclaimed poet who has published three collections previously. > Drawing on her Indian and British life experience, Fraser engages with hard-hitting current issues such as rape culture in India, climate change and war. A son questions his mother’s love after she has learned about his violent deeds. The biblical Eve is shown as a liberator. A daughter of India demands justice from her society.

A transnational collection of 'Pandemic Poetry' and paintings which, among other themes, compares India with Scotland. Vibha's oil paintings complement Bashabi's evocative poetry.

Let the powder clouds of Holi - the festival of colour - cover you in purple, pink and green. Be mesmerised by the proud hooded cobra weaving its charm. Join a wedding wrapped up in reams of yellow silk and incense and alive with the swish of green kilts and the sound of bagpipes. Watch the snow melt on the crest of soft dawns and feel the slash of rain against your numb cheek as the wind races across from the North Sea. Read Bashabi Fraser's poetry and experience a swirl of emotions and images. A Bengali poet living in Scotland, Bashabi Fraser creatively spans the different worlds she inhabits, celebrating the contrasts of the two countries whilst also finding commonality. Focussing on clear themes and issues - displacement, removal, belonging, identity, war - her poetry is vibrant with feeling and comes alive in an outrageous game of sound patterns.

The intricate stories told in Rodrigues’ portraits are matched by the rhythms and imagery in Fraser’s poetry. From ‘The Bangladeshi Gentleman’ to ‘Jura Whisky’, this book offers an insight into the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures in today’s Scotland. By peppering her poems with both Scots words and Indian words, Fraser demonstrates the bi-cultural nature of many of today’s Scots.

Polymath Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1913. But Tagore was much more than a writer. Through his poems, novels, short stories, poetic songs, dance-dramas and paintings, he transformed Bengali literature and Indian art. He was instrumental in bringing Indian culture to the West and vice versa, and strove to create a less divided society through mutual respect and understanding, like his great contemporary and close friend, Mahatma Gandhi. In this timely reappraisal of Tagore's life and work, Bashabi Fraser assesses Tagore's many activities and shows how he embodies the modern consciousness of India. She examines his ties to his upbringing in Bengal, his role in Indian politics and his interests in international relationships, as well as addressing some of the mis-readings of his life and work through a holistic perspective.

The Ganges and the Tay, the largest water courses in their two countries, are sources of life, conflict and industrial and historical change. The Ganga and the Tay is an epic concrete poem in which the River Ganges and the River Tay relate the historical importance of the ties between India and Scotland and their contemporary relevance as a natural symbol of continuity and peace. The poem is illustrated with beautiful photographs of both great rivers, which explore their shared, but unique, personalities through their histories, geographies, mythologies and environments.

Thali Katori brings together two words that celebrate difference, acknowledge the need for the sensitive appreciation of difference, the virtues of complementarity and the nourishment that poetry and the arts, as vitally as savoury and sweet dishes, dal and other vegetables, gives us, to keep us alive, to refuse, in Hugh MacDiarmid’s phrase, ‘a life deprived of its salt.’ Thali Katori is a feast of many flavours. Thali, literally means a plate on which a selection of many dishes is served. Katori signifies the bowls which accompany the thali. Together, the dishes are all different, but they complement each other, bringing out each other’s flavours and unique identities. Featuring poems and extracts from writers such as Sir Walter Scott, Vikram Seth and Hugh MacDiarmid, Thali Katori is a collection of poetry and prose that celebrates the difference and the diversity of the Indian sub-continent and Scotland. Through a diverse collection of poetry that explores the unique history of the relationship between India and Scotland and the ways in which it has affected the lives of many since, both Scottish and Indian writers alike are brought together in this anthology to create a feast of appreciation for the diversity of culture and identity of the two nations. Thali Katori provides a platform for a multitude of voices… if one is searching for a synergy then it surely must be that of the experience of the Diaspora and the formation of attachments to the Motherland. – Amrit Khan