Bountiful Instructions for Enlightenment

by Minal Hajratwala

Bountiful Instructions for Enlightenment is the long-awaited debut collection of poetry by Minal Hajratwala, whose nonfiction book Leaving India earned four literary awards in 2009. Hajratwala's writing across many genres has always been rooted in poetry. This innovative book gathers poems and performance texts written over two decades including, for the first time in print, the script for her theatrical extravaganza "Avatars: Gods for a New Millennium." In "Avatars," which premiered at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in 1999, various invented and "real" deities duel for the passions of the audience. The poems in Bountiful Instructions for Enlightenment are lyrical and scathing in their approach to identity, spirituality, and the catastrophes of the modern world. Hajratwala draws on her decades-long journey as a seeker wrestling the sacred and the profane, urging them toward intimate - and occasionally ecstatic - union. "She charms, sears, shocks and delights us," writes renowned poet Meena Alexander. Hajratwala's work has been lauded as original, electric, and explosive.

Genres: Poetry, India

120 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

Minal Hajratwala is a writer, performer, poet, and queer activist based in San Francisco, where she was born before being whisked off to be raised in New Zealand and suburban Michigan. She is the author of Leaving India: My Family’s Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 2009). She spent seven years researching and writing the book, traveling the world to interview more than seventy-five members of her extended family. In 1999, her one-woman show, “Avatars: Gods for a New Millennium,” was commissioned by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco in 1999. She was an editor and reporter for eight years at the San Jose Mercury News, and was a National Arts Journalism Program fellow at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in 2000-01. She is a graduate of Stanford University.

Reviews

[gnarlyhiker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insatiable. Read out loud. Laugh out loud. Contemplate. Reflect. Be inspired. Be in awe.

[Martina Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous perfectly curated collection of pieces by a brilliant writer. A delight to read with important topic handled beautifully.