Tremendous Reviews for PATINA

Witty & Wry with a Steely Heart*

 

Patina, launched in New York at the Matwaala festival in April 2019 has received tremendous reviews, excerpted below.

Jindal’s capacity for hard beauty and pride in her own unsentimentality…along with an irreverent playfulness made me want to see her take this tone to its limits, to interrogate her own premises  berfrois
Both trenchant & calming…this is it!   Asian Review of Books
Elegant forceful lyrics   Ink Sweat and Tears
Beautifully contemplative   The Lake
Powerful   The High Window
Poignancy and grace laced in a rare simplicity   Confluence
With magical simplicity, Jindal connects easily with readers  The Book Review

* from the review by Colin Pink in The Lake.

 

Photo by Tim Tomlinson at the Red Room, New York City.

With Salman Rushdie at the NYU launch.

Full reviews can be read at:

berfrois: https://www.berfrois.com/2019/10/jessica-sequeira-gloss-on-a-betel-nut/
Asian Review of Books: https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/patina-poetry-by-kavita-jindal/
Also selected poems here: https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/selections-from-patina-poetry-by-kavita-jindal/

Reading from Patina.

Yogesh Patel unwrapping Patina at the NYU launch.

From readers:

I have to say Patina is an absolute treat. Couldn’t put it down. It’s like when you have something salty and then something sweet, then salty and sweet again and you cannot stop till you’ve finished the whole lot. Anuradha Gupta

An eclectic mix, with a contemporary feel and a subversive edge. Isabel Bermudez

A gem of a book. Arpita Sharma

Reading Patina is like sipping fine wine. SV

Order your copy of Patina

There are only a few copies of this Limited Edition available. You can order copies from me, signed if you like.

Please contact me via the Contact page of the website. One copy of Patina is £6 + postage. Payment can be made via Paypal.

 

OPTIMISM

One of the ‘firsts’ for me this year was the commercial installation of my short poem Optimism.

It has had the most amazing reactions. That’s made me look at the poem in a new light and read it to boost myself after disappointments. Considering I’d ignored this poem since it was first published in Raincheck Renewed in 2004, this installation has provided a new beginning in many ways.

An example of the response I’ve had:
A few days after the installation a neighbour knocked on my door. ‘Your poem!’ she exclaimed.
‘What?’ I wasn’t sure what she meant.
It transpired she’s been to the hairdresser to have her highlights done. ‘There I was, sitting at the shampoo basin, when I look up at the wall in front of me. Your poem! There. I read it – it was wonderful’.

Yes, my poem had ambushed her.

This was the brilliant idea of the owner of the hair salon, Thomas Gaughan, who selected this poem as artwork for his wall. Thomas said he’d wanted something inspirational. He’s really pleased with the effect and says that his clients love it. “Great words from Kavita that lift you up when you need it most.’

I’m proud too, because as my first commercial poem installation, it’s sited where you least expect it. Where the words come to you when you’re not in a ‘reading’ frame of mind. The context is surprising, just the way I like things to be!
I’m really glad that so many people are having their spirits lifted at the shampoo basin.

Kavita is pictured with Thomas Gaughan in his London salon.

Credits:
Graphic design by Tim Barnes of Chicken Print Design
Installation by Danillo Cooper
Vinyl cut wall transfer produced by Omni Colour

And a note about the project in the shape of a happy tweet or ‘life-sentence’ published in Mslexia December 2017:

From Mslexia Issue 76, December 2017

Manual For A Decent Life – My Debut Novel Is Out

My debut novel, winner of the Brighthorse Prize, is now available to buy globally from Amazon:

UK: https://amzn.to/33wVWh1
USA: https://amzn.to/2WpHlCK
India: https://amzn.to/2UzwSDk
Canada: https://amzn.to/2UzwWD4
Australia: https://amzn.to/3aCUNaH
Book Depository – free delivery worldwide:

eBook Kindle edition:

UK – https://amzn.to/2W1Srgh
USA – https://amzn.to/321pYuA
India – https://amzn.to/2ChZeez

It is also available from bookstores such as Barnes & Noble () and Waterstones () and some indie shops but in the current lockdown circumstances I’m highlighting online deliveries which may be available with less waiting time.

With Hawthorn Blossom, Spring 2020

With Daffodils, Spring 2020

Impossible to put down – Manju Kapur
Stunning – Michele Roberts
Sharply observed – Saleem Peeradina
A heart-searching novel with a wide sweep – Russell Celyn Jones

Brilliant, Terrifying, Edifying – A Reader’s Review

My first novel MANUAL FOR A DECENT LIFE is available now

Impossible to put down – Manju Kapur

Stunning – Michele Roberts

Sharply observed – Saleem Peeradina

A heart-searching novel with a wide sweep – Russell Celyn Jones

I’m so happy to announce the release of my first novel Manual For A Decent Life. It took ten years to write and another few to get published. The manuscript won the Brighthorse Prize in 2018 and the North American edition is now published by Brighthorse Books. I’m honoured that writers I admire have written glowing reviews of the book. The formal launch of the book will follow later in the year and other editions are forthcoming. Meanwhile, do support the book and buy your copy now.

Available from Barnes & Noble (US), Waterstones (UK), Amazon (UK), Amazon (Australia), Amazon (India) and Amazon (globally).

in favour of proportional, yep!

I couldn’t resist writing a hopeful future election poem, on this day before the UK General Election 2019. It’s a call for Proportional Representation. This is the best time to get people thinking about what their votes would mean in a different electoral system, considering every party is now urging Tactical Voting.