Because All is Not Lost: Verse on Grief (World Voices) [Paperback]

Sweta Srivastava Vikram (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2010

Sweta Srivastava Vikram is a multi-genre writer living in New York City. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals, online publications, and anthologies across six countries and three continents. Sweta has attended several writing residencies and workshops in the United States and Europe. She is a VONA writer and a graduate of Columbia University.

About this Chapbook...

We have all lost a dear one at some point in our lives. Grief, depending on the relationship with the one deceased, affects us differently. I feel my Dada and Mausi's absence every single day for disparate reasons. But these two losses have taught me that their time had come. And that life is about celebrating those alive and not just mourning those who have moved on. Optimism and faith are the keys to overcoming the roadblocks life puts in our way. This book tries to state that there is always hope for anyone coping with grief. No one can tell us exactly how; the voyage has to be undertaken by each of us individually.

Learn more about the author at www.swetavikram.com

From the World Voice Series at Modern History Press www.ModernHistoryPress.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 36 pages
• Publisher: Modern History Press; 1st edition (June 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1615990461
• ISBN-13: 978-1615990467
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 9.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,127,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sweta Srivastava Vikram (www.swetavikram.com) is a multi-genre writer. Born in India, Sweta spent her formative years between the steel city of Rourkela, the blue waters of North Africa, and the green hills of Mussoorie before arriving in bustling New York.

Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary journals, online publications, and anthologies across three continents and six countries. Sweta has held attended workshops and artist residencies in Europe and USA. She is a graduate of Columbia University.

As a teenager, Sweta loved literature with the same passion as she loathed the sciences. She wanted to be an Indian Jane Austen. She recollects that her organic chemistry notebook in Mussoorie contained poetic inscriptions instead of formulas. By the time she was fifteen, she and her friends had read Gone With the Wind multiple times and fallen in love with Pride & Prejudice's Mr. Darcy. In one of the geography quizzes about the tribes of the world, despite knowing the answer ("Aborigines. I can never forget it after that day," she admits) Sweta wrote that "Mr. Darcy" was the nomadic tribe of Australia.

Sweta lives in New York City with her husband, way too many Apple products, dreams, wine, books, and lots of friends. Aside from writing and reading, she loves dancing, taking yoga classes, playing the piano, traveling, cooking, talking to her two nieces, and entertaining guests.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Because ALL IS NOT Lost, August 17, 2010

By 

S. Agusto-Cox "Savvy Verse & Wit" (Germantown, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Because All is Not Lost: Verse on Grief (World Voices) (Hardcover)

Sweta Srivastava Vikram`s Because All is Not Lost: Verse on Grief (World Voices) is a new chapbook of poems about grief and recovery. While recovering from grief is never the same for everyone, these poems speak to the void that death can leave.

"One day she will stop/digging up maggots of loss/breeding in her memory.//" (From Convalescence, page 18)

Vikram uses simple imagery and encapsulated stories to illustrate grief and the possible reactions to loss. In the introduction, the poets explains her inspiration for the collection, the deaths of her grandfather and her mother's sister. The collection is sad and weighs heavily on the reader, and readers should consider taking each poem in separately to absorb their meaning. However, there are rays of hope within the poems.

Read the rest of the review at Savvy Verse & Wit.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning Collection, August 12, 2010

By 

Suko (Southern CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Because All is Not Lost: Verse on Grief (World Voices) (Hardcover)

"A poem begins with a lump in the throat."~Robert Frost

Although these poems are about loss and grief, they are also about hope and overcoming loss, and I felt uplifted after reading them. A spirit of optimism shines through, and as the author says in the book, "The night does not have to smell of burnt pork when there is honey". With striking imagery and intense feeling, this is a stunning collection of twenty poems. I eagerly look forward to reading more poetry and prose by multi-genre writer Sweta Srivastava Vikram.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A clear-eyed look at grief, August 6, 2010

By 

V. Pradhan "wyliecoat" (Fremont, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Because All is Not Lost: Verse on Grief (World Voices) (Paperback)

Sweta Srivastava Vikram's slim volume of poetry speaks eloquently of grief . Pithy poems lament lost family members and troubled souls. The tone is bracing; the exhortation is to mourn and move on - each loss is an opportunity to learn.