Our Correspondent
KOHIMA, OCTOBER 10
“Suddenly the whole village was moving to the beat of the dance; mothers carrying babies were rocking back and forth, old men brought out drums and beat rhythms that merged in with the beat of the main drummer, and all the villagers whole-heartedly participated in the dancing without any hesitation.”- An excerpt from The Dancing Village.
Noted Naga poet and writer, Easterine Kire today launched her 25th publication, ‘The Dancing Village’, a children’s book.
The book was officially released by Dr. Shürhozelie Liezietsu at a function held in LCS Building, Kohima. Having had the privilege to preview the book, Liezietsu said ‘The Dancing Village’ has been written in a very extraordinary style by linking multiple tribes, bridging inter-cultural division and overcoming orthodox style of thinking.
“This book is simple and beautiful, but contains a very big moral lesson behind it,” he said.Liezietsu, who, besides being a statesman, is also an academician and a writer himself, described Easterine as a “prolific writer” and her work covers fine literature. Easterine’s work touches upon all the fine aspects of literature, which consists of a wide range of styles and forms, he stated. Pointing out that she has also ventured into the purest form of literature- poetry, Dr. Liezietsu said the Naga society is very fortunate to have a writer of her stature. While acknowledging Easterine’s contributions towards literature in the state as the first woman writer in English language among the Nagas, he congratulated her for all her feats and wished her the best in future.
Speaking on the occasion, the author, Easterine said the main aims of bringing out children’s books are to engage with the imagination of the children, and to help children learn about the visible aspects of the Naga culture such as the log drum, the folk dance etc. While acknowledging the people who contributed in different ways to her latest and 25th book, she named in particular the artist Akuo Miachieo among others.
“In The Dancing Village, Dr. Easterine Kire brings to children a story to delight as well as to instruct them in the rich Naga cultural folk traditions. Seven-year-old Rongsen who loves to dance, bridges the inter-cultural divide and gets an entire Ao Naga village dance to the rhythm of a Zeliang folk dance, leading the two tribes to embrace each other in a celebration of friendship,” reviews Dr. AJ Sebastian, former professor and HoD English, Nagaland University.
With her book ‘Kelhoukevira’ (1983), Easterine Kire became the first individual Naga poet to have a volume of poetry published, and her first novel ‘A Naga Village Remembered’ (2003) was the first Naga novel to be written in English by a Naga writer. She was awarded the Nagaland Governor’s Award for excellence in literature in 2011, subsequently, 2013 saw her novel ‘Bitter Wormwood’ getting shortlisted for The Hindu Lit Prize, to becoming a recipient of the Catalan PEN International Free Voice Award.
Easterine is also known for her ‘Jazzpoetry and Other Poems’, an eclectic collection of poetry, of which, the jazz poems were performed by the band Jazzpoesi consisting of saxophonist Ola Rokkones, drummer Jon Eirik Boska and Easterine herself. They have reportedly topped European jazz charts in the Summer 2013.
Her novel ‘A Terrible Matriarchy’ which talks about a young girl growing up in a traditional society, has been selected by the Government of India to be translated into six UNESCO languages. Her poetry and books have been translated to German, Croatian, Uzbek, Norwegian and Nepali, and some are currently being translated to other Indian languages as well.
