I Will Not Bear You Sons
A poem can glisten like a fresh wound.
Usha Akella pays tribute to the lives of women from cultures across continents, while reflecting on her own life. Her poems are the medium for women who refuse to be silenced. She condenses a calm rage into ferocious words of precision and celebrates the women who have triumphed. All the while a subversive dusting of humour runs through the collection.
This is poetry that cannot be ignored.
Rage has no caste, needs no algorithm,
light a pyre with it
of chopped thumbs and scripted dreams
MARCH 2021 | 9781925950281 | Paperback | 155 x 234 mm | 144 pages
Endorsements
These poems distil perennial wisdom and are charged with life and a brilliance that lends us humans, particularly women, a voice. The poet demands that we speak.
—Marianela Medrano, Dominican poet, author of Rooting: A Selection of Bilingual Poems
We are truly at precipice and this poetry can help wake up the world to itself. Kudos.
—Anne Waldman, author of Trickster Feminism
Reviews
Read The Hindu review 4th July 2021 online here
Misogyny, patriarchy, sexual harassment, forced silences, the experiences of working women, Akella’s poems speak of all these. Her activism is clearly evident in the honesty with which she speaks about these in her poems, in the metaphors and images that she uses that voice so much that needs to be spoken. They are also a social commentary on life. Characterized by a passion, brave and harsh at times, with wit at other times, the poems strike a chord as they speak of myriad women’s voices. Many of the poems refer to real women and girls who have suffered, who had to bear the brunt of violence in a harsh world making the cries even more real and heart-wrenching. They voice a sense of identity, loneliness, anxiety as they move through cultures and time periods, uniting all in one large canvas. The volume is a wonderful addition to the oeuvre of feminist poetry by a major poet of the diaspora.
—Nishi Pulugurtha, Cafe Dissensus Everyday
In these immaculately crafted and powerful, polyphonic poems, Usha Akella issues a rallying cry for all women to unite, resist and fight the violence of the patriarchy. Read more
— Basudhara Roy, Lucy Writers
Usha’s new book I will not bear you sons has been many years in the making; in the foreword to the book, Usha says that perhaps it began the day she was born in 1967 as a female in this world. Tackling various global women’s issues such as FGM, rape, foot binding and terrorism, as well as personal issues, the book calls for an international perspective to feminism within the recognition of multiple feminisms. Read the full post here
The award-winning US-based author’s collection of poems, published by the feminist publishing house Spinifex Press, is an indictment of cultural traditions rooted in patriarchy while also evocatively expressing the power of the feminine.
“My book is trying to convey the message that women are united in their struggles irrespective of caste, community, class, race and nation. In drawing out issues from various cultures, I’ve tried to highlight the universality of patriarchy. The issue is the same – the devaluing of the female sex, status and dignity,” says Usha, who is the founder of Matwaala, the first South Asian diaspora poets festival in the US. Read more
Reader Reviews
5 STARS. What flows from the birth canal of Usha’s pen is a book epic in its sweep and searing in its truths. I Will Not Bear You Sons is destined to become a classic of Feminist Literature.
—Sophia Ali, Amazon Reader Review
5 STARS. I Will Not Bear You Sons is a powerful book that carries a heavy message about the misogynistic and patriarchal power structures of Indian society and our world.
—Rajiv G, Amazon Reader Review
5 STARS. I will Not bear You Sons, the title itself stands at the intersection of unfettered declaration of rising above the patriarchy and the subjugation of the women faced by the Indian women. This collection scratches the surface of the wound and lets you see the real face of the patriarchy that hides behind the caste system and traditions and behind layers of the patriarchal system in India. Usha Akella writes from a Niyogi Brahmin sensitivity and brings out the social evils that exist at both ends of the caste spectrum. I would highly recommend this book to readers looking for a thoughtful read.
—Megha Sood ( Poet, Author, Activist), Amazon Reader Review
Watch the full book launch for I Will Not Bear You Sons.
Two individual poetry readings from Robyn Rowland are below.