Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Michelle Cahill, Giramondo Publishing, $24.95.
This is the first collection of short stories by Indian-Australian poet that ingeniously depicts a range of intricate characters in political and social settings across the globe. We look at Boston to Chiang Mai, Kathmandu to Kraków, from Seville to Nairobi.
Being able to realistically recreate realisms shows a special skill. It is authoritative. The collection includes stories in letter form to Jacques Derrida, Virginia Woolf, Jean Genet and to JM Coetzee, from his character Melanie Isaacs.
The collection’s title comes from Fernando Pessoa. Cahill exhibits a significant resourcefulness with the creation of standpoints and characteristics. Lot of thought goes into giving depth to indistinct backdrops and circumstances. This is necessary as they express the anxiety and craving, fixation and indignation, of the people who are caught up in them.
