Saudamini Deo

the fascination of trifles; the enchantment of frivolity; the spell of worthless things; the seduction of nonsense; the charm of idle pursuits; the lure of empty pleasures; the enticement of meaningless diversions; the allure of trivial things; the spell of slight things

One of the most interesting figures out of this complex landscape is Anthony Firingee, a Bengali language kavigan singer-writer and folk poet of Portuguese origin known for his works in Bengali devotional songs in the early 19th century, who lived and wrote in the French colony of Chandannagar.

A selection of loanwords in Bangla from the Portuguese.

Map of Portuguese India, showing settlements across the subcontinent including those in Bengal / Title page of Manuel da Assumpção's Vocabulario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez (1743), the earliest bilingual Bengali–Portuguese lexicon.

Bengali Portuguese Creole, a now extinct language.

Postcards from Paris.

Postcards from Paris.

What I remember most is the Black Madonna and the oranges that one could step on like they were hearts.

“Do you renounce the glamour of evil, and refuse to be mastered by sin?”

What I remember most is the Black Madonna and the oranges that one could step on like they were hearts.

Holi wishes from Paris, with some sweets and colours (however we May find them).

Holi wishes from Paris, with some sweets and colours (however we May find them).

"A legendary figure in Brazil, renowned for her uncommon and unique writing style, her great personal beauty — the American translator Gregory Rabassa recalled being "flabbergasted to meet that rare person who looked like Marlene Dietrich and wrote like Virginia Woolf," ..."

Clarice Lispector: Madame of the Void by José Castello December 10, 2020 – In honor of the centennial of Lispector’s birth, Katrina Dodson translates the tale of a young journalist’s awkward encounters with the famous writer in the seventies.

www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/12...

The True Glamour of Clarice Lispector Her fiction is a record of woman’s entire life, written over the course of a woman’s entire life—the first such record in any language.

www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...

The end of a salad.

Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa The lights on the bridges have no end My nights are full of them I will remember the lights even in the face of death – from “Theatre”  (1996) In recent years, Seagull Books has been bringing the w…

ICYMI I wrote about this collection by cult Hindi poet, the first translation of his work into English by @saudaminideo.bsky.social
Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa roughghosts.com/2026/02/26/e...

Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa The lights on the bridges have no end My nights are full of them I will remember the lights even in the face of death – from “Theatre”  (1996) In recent years, Seagull Books has been bringing the w…

Even in these half-dark times: The World Is Made Up Every Day by Alok Dhanwa, translated by Saudamini Deo @saudaminideo.bsky.social
roughghosts.com/2026/02/26/e...

"Where do I stand?

I don’t know except that from where I stand, I can see that it moves."

Continuing my series on my blog on fallen people, this time I write about Galileo Galilei:

beyondsixrivers.fr/2026/02/22/t...

"Where do I stand?

I don’t know except that from where I stand, I can see that it moves."

Continuing my series on my blog on fallen people, this time I write about Galileo Galilei:

beyondsixrivers.fr/2026/02/22/t...

Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris.

Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris.

The Multibillion-Dollar Foundation That Controls the Humanities Is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation the last best hope for American arts and letters—or is it killing them?

Important piece on who controls the humanities:

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Oh, how wonderful, dear Joe! I really hope you will enjoy travelling through these poems ...

Book: The World is Made Up Every Day: Selected Poems by Alok Dhanwa, translated by Saudamini Deo

In the mail today. A collection of work by a cult poet of the 70s and 80s, translated from the Hindi by @saudaminideo.bsky.social

Poetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 4 A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond.

This week in the poetry blogs with @shawnalemay.bsky.social @katiemanningpoet.bsky.social @emmalee1.bsky.social @richardjnewman.bsky.social @billymills.bsky.social @kent-nj.bsky.social @robin-gow-poet.bsky.social 1/4 www.vianegativa.us/2026/01/poet...

Poetry Blog Digest 2026, Week 4 A personal selection of posts from the Poetry Blogging Network and beyond.

Falling snow, a broken country, and more with
@victoriamoul.bsky.social @saudaminideo.bsky.social @suefinch.bsky.social @alinaetc.bsky.social @jntod.bsky.social @myheadtheforest.bsky.social @dharmabam.bsky.social 2/4 www.vianegativa.us/2026/01/poet...

The Fallen People I often think of Paul Celan while walking alongside the Seine that, in the summer, smells like fish, sweat, and rotting apples. One can look at the green of the river and imagine the countless bodi…

I like fallen people, people who fall, who fell, who will fall, who have been made to fall. I like Adam and Eve and the red apple.

beyondsixrivers.fr/2025/07/23/t...

The Fallen People: Paul Verlaine The poètes maudits Paul Verlaine (far left) and Arthur Rimbaud (second from the left), depicted in Un coin de table, a painting from 1872 by Henri Fantin-Latour. “A vast black sleep, falls over my …

Continuing my series on my blog on fallen people, this time I write about Paul Verlaine:

"I would like to walk in the rain, slightly drunk with absinthe, grateful for my accursed life. I would like to hold a rose in my hand that I know will wilt."

beyondsixrivers.fr/2026/01/26/t...

The Fallen People I often think of Paul Celan while walking alongside the Seine that, in the summer, smells like fish, sweat, and rotting apples. One can look at the green of the river and imagine the countless bodi…

I like fallen people, people who fall, who fell, who will fall, who have been made to fall. I like Adam and Eve and the red apple.

beyondsixrivers.fr/2025/07/23/t...

The Fallen People: Paul Verlaine The poètes maudits Paul Verlaine (far left) and Arthur Rimbaud (second from the left), depicted in Un coin de table, a painting from 1872 by Henri Fantin-Latour. “A vast black sleep, falls over my …

Continuing my series on my blog on fallen people, this time I write about Paul Verlaine:

"I would like to walk in the rain, slightly drunk with absinthe, grateful for my accursed life. I would like to hold a rose in my hand that I know will wilt."

beyondsixrivers.fr/2026/01/26/t...