manirao.com

writing samples

poetry

• “Sing to Me” from the Anomalous Chapbook Contest Notable manuscript, read here.
• “Poem, Sisyphus” in Omniverse, read here.
• Poems from Ghostmasters, read in Almost Island here.
• “Postcard Aphrodite”first published in Colorado Review and “Fêted” first published in Interim read in Big Bridge anthologyonline here
• Poem-essay on Lorine Niedecker’s work/ life via select fragments from her poems, in Dukool,  here.
• “Ding Dong Bell,” “Peace Treaty” and “Illiad Blues” in Mascara here
• “Father’s Day” in Cordite here
• Various poems in Softblow here and here
• Various poems in Sangam House here

“New and Selected Poems” book released in India by Poetrywala has a selection from across my books, see here.

 essays

• “The Experience of Srividya at Devipuram” in Religions (2019) 10(1), 14. Open Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10010014
• “A Brief History of the Bhagavad Gita’s Canonization” in Religion Compass. (Email Mani for a pdf if you do not have access to Wiley).
• “Writing to Stop.” Read in 91st Meridien.
• “Automatic Writing – Real, Surreal, Hyper-real” in Fulcrum 7. Download pdf here.
• “Repetitiveness in Gita translations.” eXchanges, Journal of Literary Translation, winter 2009. Download here.
• “Stretch.”  XCP. Download pdf here.
• “Halloween” in Dimsum. Download pdf here.
• “Decoding Augustine via Saussure.” In-Between Journal of Literary Criticism. Download pdf here.
• “Caterpillar to Butterfly: Thoreau’s dietary journey.” Thoreau Society Bulletin. Read here.

 reviews

• Review of Arvind K. Mehrotra’s Songs of Kabir. Translation Review (Vol 83, Issue 1, 2012). Download pdf here.
• Review of Mohammad A Quayum’s Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short Stories. Cha (Mar 2012, Issue 16.) Read here.
• “Sisterhood of Royal Intrigue.” Review of Kaunteya by Madhavi Mahadevan. New Indian Expreess, 18^th February 2017. Read here.
• “Sita Recycled and Retold.” Review of Sita, Warrior of Mithila (Book 2, Ram Chandra Series) by Amish Tripathi. New Indian Express, 1^st July 2017. Read here.
• Review of Available Light, C.P.Surendran. First published in Kitaab, and reprinted in Scroll (November 7^th, 2017). Read here.
• “A Sense of Wholeness.” Review of There’s a Carnival Today, Manjushree Thapa’s translation of Indra Bahadur Rai’s Nepalese novel Aaja Ramita Chha. New Indian Express, 23^rd Dec 2017. Read here.

translations

• “He’s a Sweetie.” Translation of Madhurashtakam. Asymptote (Apr 2012).
• “Beauty, A Wave.” Translationof Soundarya Lahari excerpts. Asymptote (Oct 2011).
• “Guru – Hymn in Eight Stanzas.” Translation of Guru-Ashtakam. Anomalous (Issue 3, Sep 2011).
• Kalidasa’s Ritusamharam. Excerpts in Almost Island (Spring 2014).
• Kalidasa’s Meghadutam. Excerpts in Poetry at Sangam.
• Ishavasyopanishad. Read in Asymptote.