CAPITALS

CAPITALS is a poetry anthology on the capital cities of the world edited by Abhay K and published by Bloomsbury in 2016. Available here. It is also available as an e-book here. It was launched in NY at Poets House on 5th Jan 2017, at Jaipur Literature Festival on 21st Jan 2017, at India International Centre on 27th Jan 2017 and SOAS, University of London on 1st Feb 2017.


CAPITALS has been reviewed in 
The Times Literary Supplement
The Hindu Book Review
The Times of India
The Tribune
DNA




 
"A blazing new international anthology." The Hindu Business Line Ink
 

 "As the world shrinks and border fences go up, and travel becomes both easier and more difficult, Capitals looks like the book to have. Frequent flyers can here rest awhile as can nimble-footed backpackers, and for those who are still curious to see what the poets in Moroni or Tegucigalpa are doing, I cannot think of a better place to begin." Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

 "In striking voices of every hue and shade, from some of the greatest  cities of our globe, Capitals marries word and verse to elegance and fire, transporting history's ghosts and tomorrow's hopes in an inspiring journey of the soul."  Shashi Tharoor


"...disturbing and poignant....what an anthology!"Shobhaa De

 "This anthology is a powerful evocation of cities, communities and urban spaces across cultures and continents, histories and timelines" Namita Gokhale


Erratum: Poem Frame by Frame of a Suburban Winter Day in Helsinki on page 287 in CAPITALS is by Ko Ko Thett. It has been wrongly attributed to Anni Sumari. This editorial glitch is regretted.


Contents
Introduction by Abhay K. xv
Africa       1
Abuja – Jumoke Verissimo 3
Accra – Kwame Dawes 5
Addis Ababa – Liyou Libsekal 7
Algiers – Christopher Merrill 8
Antananarivo – Elizabeth Orlando 9
Asmara – Ressom Haile 11
BAMAKO – Karla Brundage 13
Bangui – Grand Master Masese 15
BANJUL – Mariama Khan 16
Bissau – Tony Tcheka 18
Brazzaville – Aimé Eyengue 20
BUJUMBURA – Abdoul Mtoka 21
CAIRO – Matthew Shenoda 23
CAIRO – Inara Cedrins 25
CAPE TOWN – Gabeba Baderoon 28
CONAKRY – Gerard Noiret 30
COTONOU – Abhay K. 32
DAKAR – Mildred K. Barya 33
DAR ES SALAAM – Charlotte Hill O’Neal 34
DJIBOUTI – Abhay K. 37
FREETOWN – Steven J. Fowler 38
GABORONE – Abhay K. 39
HARARE – Chirikure Chirikure 40
JUBA – Abhay K. 41
KAMPALA – Mildred K. Barya 42
KAMPALA – Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva 43
KHARTOUM – Tim Cummings 44
KIGALI – By Sitawa Namwalie 47
KINSHASA – Annie Finch 49
LIBREVILLE – Abhay K. 50
LILONGWE – Frank M. Chipasula 51
LOME – Meg Pierce 54
LUANDA – Abhay K. 56
LUSAKA – Jekwu Ozoemene 57
MALABO – Marcelo Ensema Nsang 59
MAPUTO – Abhay K. 62
MASERU – Rethabile Masilo 63
MBABANE-LOBAMBA – Abhay K. 64
MOGADISHU – Ladan Osman 65
MONROVIA – James V. Dwalu 67
MORONI – Abhay K. 68
N’DJEMENA – Zaharaddeen Ibrahim Kallah 69
NAIROBI – Ngwatilo Mawiyoo 70
NIAMEY – Yusuf Adamu 71
NOUAKCHOTT – Abhay K. 72
OUAGADOUGOU – Andy Knowlton 73
PORT LOUIS – Saradha Soobrayen 74
PRAIA – Abhay K. 75
RABAT – Abhay K. 76
SAO TOME – By Conceição Lima 77
TRIPOLI – Sabrina Masud 78
TUNIS – Abhay K. 79
VICTORIA – Abhay K. 80
WINDHOEK – Abhay K. 81
YAMOUSSOUKRO – Karla Brundage 82
YAOUNDE – Viola Allo 84
      Americas 87
ASUNCION – Gwen Burnyeat 89
BASSETERRE – Imruh Bakari 91
BELMOPAN – Abhay K. 94
BOGOTA – Amparo Osorio 95
BRASILIA – Marcos Freitas 96
BRASILIA – Abhay K. 98
BRIDGETOWN – Linda M. Deane 100
BUENOS AIRES – Clive Wilmer 102
BUENOS AIRES – Abhay K. 103
CARACAS – Marcela Sulak 104
CASTRIES – Derek Walcott 106
CASTRIES – Vladimir Lucien 107
GEORGETOWN – Mark McWatt 108
GUATEMALA CITY – Alan Mills 110
HAVANA – Pedro Pérez Sarduy 111
KINGSTON – Colin Channer 113
KINGSTON – Kwame Dawes 115
Kingstown – Philip Nanton 119
LA PAZ – Carlos D. Mesa Gisbert 121
LIMA – Victoria Guerrero 123
LIMA – Abhay K. 125
MANAGUA – Ernesto Cardenal 127
MEXICO CITY – Zoë Brigley 128
MONTEVIDEO – Luis Bravo 129
NASSAU – Lelawatee Manoo-Rahming 132
NEW YORK – Alfred Corn 134
NEW YORK – Annette Hagemann 136
OTTAWA – Francoise Roy 137
OTTAWA – Scott Alain 138
PANAMA CITY – Lucy Cristina Chau 139
PARAMARIBO – Abhay K. 140
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Denize Lauture 141
PORT OF SPAIN – Derek Walcott 143
PORT OF SPAIN – Lauren K. Alleyne 144
QUITO – Edwin Madrid 148
ROSEAU – Delroy Nesta Williams 149
SAN JOSE – Luis Chaves 151
SAN SALVADOR – Abhay K. 152
SANTIAGO – Veronica Zondek 153
SANTO DOMINGO – Jael Uribe 155
SUCRE – Alex Bramwell 157
TEGUCIGALPA – Claudia Patricia Sánchez Cárcamo 158
Washington DC – Kim Roberts 159
Washington DC – Myra Skalrew 160
Asia pacific        163
ABU DHABI – Navid Haider 165
AMMAN – Karl Schembri 166
ANKARA – Müesser Yeniay 167
ASHGABAT – A.K. Welsapar 168
ASTANA – Temirkhan Medetbek 169
BAGHDAD – Dunya Mikhail 170
BAGHDAD – Salah Al Hamdani 171
BAKU – By Yeşim Ağaoğlu 173
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – Abhay K. 174
BANGKOK – Abhay K. 175
BEIJING – Arthur Sze 177
BEIJING – Inara Cedrins 179
BEIRUT – Omar Sabbagh 180
BISHKEK – Anatoly Kudryavitsky 182
Canberra – Michelle Cahill 183
CANBERRA – P.S. Cottier 184
COLOMBO – Indran Amirthanayagam 185
DAMASCUS – Ruth Padel 188
DHAKA – Ahsan Akbar 192
DILI – Abhay K. 194
DOHA – Dhabiya Khamis 195
HANOI – Nguyen Bao Chan 197
ISLAMABAD – Mehvash Amin 198
ISLAMABAD – Ilona Yusuf 201
JAKARTA – Indah Widiastuti 203
JERUSALEM – Asa Boxer 205
JERUSALEM – Mahmoud Darwish 206
KABUL – Reza Mohhamadi 207
Kathmandu – Cathal Ó Searcaigh 208
KATHMANDU – Abhay K. 210
KUALA LUMPUR – Sharanya Manivannan 212
KUWAIT CITY – Shurooq Amin 214
MALE – Ibrahim Waheed ‘Ogaru’ 216
MANAMA – Ali Al Jallawi 218
MANILA – Marra PL. Lanot 220
MUSCAT – Abhay K. 222
NAYPYIDAW – Ko Ko Thett 223
NEW DELHI – Abhay K. 225
PHONM PENH – Chath Piersath 227
PORT MORSEBY – Russell Soaba 230
PORT VILA – Abhilash Surendran 231
PYONGYANG – Alex Bramwell 232
RIYADH – Ashjan Hendi 233
SANA’A – Abdulaziz Al Muqaleh 235
SEOUL – Kim Gyeongmee 236
SINGAPORE – Alvin Pang 237
SUVA – Sudesh Mishra 240
TASHKENT – Hamid Ismailov 241
TBILISI – Sabrina Masud 242
TEHRAN – Mimi Khalvati 243
THIMPHU – Abhay K. 245
TOKYO – Jan Napier 246
ULAANBAATAR – G. Mend-Ooyo 247
VIENTIANE – Bryan Thao Worra 248
Wellington – Jennifer Compton 250
Yerevan – Lola Koundakjian 251
Europe 253
AMSTERDAM – Joris Lenstra 255
ANDORRA LA VELLA – Ester Fenoll Garcia 256
ATHENS – Claire Askew 257
ATHENS – Katerina Iliopoulou 259
BELGRADE – Jelena Lengold 260
BELGRADE – Milan Dobricic 261
BERLIN – Hatto Fischer 262
BERN – Brigitte Fuchs 264
BRATISLAVA – Mary Jo Salter 265
BRUSSELS – Willem Roggeman 267
BUCHAREST – Astrid Alben 270
BUDAPEST – Ágnes Lehóczky 272
BUDAPEST – George Szirtes 274
Chi şin ău – Marina Khlebnikova 278
Chi şin ău – Phillip Nikolayev 279
COPENHAGEN – Philip McDonagh 281
COPENHAGEN – Tabish Khair 283
DUBLIN – Gabriel Rosenstock 284
DUBLIN – Pat Boran 285
HELSINKI – Ko Ko Thett 287
KIEV – Anatoly Kudryavitsky 290
LISBON – Xavier Frias Conde 291
LJUBLJANA – Lucija Stupica 292
LONDON – Les Wicks 293
LONDON – Moniza Alvi 294
LONDON – Todd Swift 296
LUXEMBOURG – Jean Portante 298
MADRID – Germain Droogenbroodt 299
MINSK – Valzhyna Mort 300
MONACo – Abhilash Surendran 302
MOSCOW – Phillip Nikolayev 303
NICOSIA – Nora Nadjarian 304
OSLO – Mark Strand 305
PARIS – Michael Glover 306
PARIS – Pascale Petit 308
PARIS – Vijay Seshadri 310
PODGORICA – Tanja Bakic 311
PRAGUE – Adam Borzic 312
Prague – Khadijah Queen 313
REYKJAVIK – Claus Ankersen 314
RIGA – Irina Grivnina 316
ROME – Luca Benassi 318
SAN MARINO – Abhay K. 319
SARAJEVO – Anatoly Kudryavitsky 320
SARAJEVO – Sudeep Sen 321
SKOPJE – Magdalena Horvat 324
SOFIA – Kapka Kassabova 325
STOCKHOLM – Mathura (aka Margus Lattik) 326
TALLINN – Hasso Krull 327
TIRANA – Morelle Smith 328
VADUZ – Mathias Ospelt 330
VALETTA – Immanuel Mifsud 331
VATICAN CITY – Pat Boran 334
VIENNA – Priya Sarukkai Chabria 335
VILNIUS – Eugenijus Ališanka 338
WARSAW – Montserrat Villar González 339
Zagreb – Tomica Bajsić 340

Acknowledgements 341
Permissions Acknowledgments 343
Poets 349
Poets Index 393
Capitals Index 397


 Poets Index

A.K. Welsapar 168
Abdoul Mtoka 21
Abdulaziz Al Muqaleh 235
Abhay K. 32, 37, 39, 41, 50, 56,
62, 64, 68, 72, 75-76, 79,
80-81, 94, 98, 103, 125, 140,
152, 174-75, 194, 210, 222,
225, 245, 319
Abhilash Surendran 231, 302
Adam Borzic 312
Ágnes Lehóczky 272
Ahsan Akbar 192
Aimé Eyengue 20
Alan Mills 110
Alex Bramwell 157, 232
Alfred Corn 134
Ali Al Jallawi 218
Alvin Pang 237
Amparo Osorio 95
Anatoly Kudryavitsky 182, 290,
320
Andy Knowlton 73
Annette Hagemann 136
Annie Finch 49
Arthur Sze 177
Asa Boxer 205
Ashjan Hendi 233
Astrid Alben 270
Beverley Nambozo
Nsengiyunva 43
Brigitte Fuchs 264
Bryan Thao Worra 248
Carlos D. Mesa Gisbert 121
Cathal Ó Searcaigh 208
Charlotte Hill O’Neal 34
Chath Piersath 227
Chirikure Chirikure 40
Christopher Merrill 8
Claire Askew 257
Claudia Patricia Sánchez
Cárcamo 158
Claus Ankersen 314
Clive Wilmer 102
Colin Channer 113
Conceição Lima 77
Delroy Nesta Williams 149
Denize Lauture 141
Derek Walcott 106, 143
Dhabiya Khamis 195
Dunya Mikhail 170
Edwin Madrid 148
Elizabeth Orlando 9
Ernesto Cardenal 127
Ester Fenoll Garcia 256
Eugenijus Ališanka 338
Francoise Roy 137
Frank M. Chipasula 51
G. Mend-Ooyo 247
Gabeba Baderoon 28
Gabriel Rosenstock 284
George Szirtes 274
Gerard Noiret 30
Germain Droogenbroodt 299
Grand Master Masese 15
Gwen Burnyeat 89
Hamid Ismailov 241
Hasso Krull 327
Hatto Fischer 262
Ibrahim Waheed ‘Ogaru’ 216
Ilona Yusuf 201
Immanuel Mifsud 331
Imruh Bakari 91
Inara Cedrins 25, 179
Indah Widiastuti 203
Indran Amirthanayagam 185
Irina Grivnina 316
Jael Uribe 155
James V. Dwalu 67
Jan Napier 246
Jean Portante 298
Jekwu Ozoemene 57
Jelena Lengold 260
Jennifer Compton 250
Joris Lenstra 255
Jumoke Verissimo 3
Kapka Kassabova 325
Karl Schembri 166
Karla Brundage 13, 82
Katerina Iliopoulou 259
Khadijah Queen 313
Kim Gyeongmee 236
Kim Roberts 159, 287
Ko Ko Thett 223
Kwame Dawes 5, 115
Ladan Osman 65
Lauren K. Alleyne 144
Lelawatee Manoo-Rahming 132
Les Wicks 293
Linda M. Deane 100
Liyou Libsekal 7
Lola Koundakjian 251
Luca Benassi 318
Lucija Stupica 292
Lucy Cristina Chau 139
Luis Bravo 129
Luis Chaves 151
Magdalena Horvat 324
Mahmoud Darwish 206
Marcela Sulak 104
Marcelo Ensema Nsang 59
Marcos Freitas 96
Mariama Khan 16
Marina Khlebnikova 278
Mark McWatt 108
Mark Strand 305
Marra PL. Lanot 220
Mary Jo Salter 265
Mathias Ospelt 330
Mathura (aka Margus Lattik) 326
Matthew Shenoda 23
Meg Pierce 54
Mehvash Amin 198
Michael Glover 306
Michelle Cahill 183
Milan Dobricic 261
Mildred K. Barya 33, 42
Mimi Khalvati 243
Moniza Alvi 294
Montserrat Villar González 339
Morelle Smith 328
Müesser Yeniay 167
Myra Skalrew 160
Navid Haider 165
Nguyen Bao Chan 197
Ngwatilo Mawiyoo 70
Nora Nadjarian 304
Omar Sabbagh 180
P.S. Cottier 184
Pascale Petit 308
Pat Boran 285, 334
Pedro Pérez Sarduy 111
Philip McDonagh 281
Philip Nanton 119
Phillip Nikolayev 279, 303
Priya Sarukkai Chabria 335
Ressom Haile 11
Rethabile Masilo 63
Reza Mohhamadi 207
Russell Soaba 230
Ruth Padel 188
Sabrina Masud 78, 242
Salah Al Hamdani 171
Saradha Soobrayen 74
Scott Alain 138
Sharanya Manivannan 212
Shurooq Amin 214
Sitawa Namwalie 47
Steven J. Fowler 38
Sudeep Sen 321
Sudesh Mishra 240
Tabish Khair 283
Tanja Bakic 311
Temirkhan Medetbek 169
Tim Cummings 44
Todd Swift 296
Tomica Bajsić 340
Tony Tcheka 18
Valzhyna Mort 300
Veronica Zondek 153
Victoria Guerrero 123
Vijay Seshadri 310
Viola Allo 84
Vladimir Lucien 107
Willem Roggeman 267
Xavier Frias Conde 291
Yeşim Ağaoğlu 173
Yusuf Adamu 71
Zaharaddeen Ibrahim Kallah 69
Zoë Brigley 128


Capitals Index
Abu Dhabi | UAE 165
Abuja | Nigeria 3
Accra | Ghana 5
Addis Ababa | Ethiopia 7
Algiers | Algeria 8
Amman | Jordan 166
Amsterdam | Netherlands 255
Andorra La Vella | Andorra 256
Ankara | Turkey 167
Antananarivo | Madagascar 9
Ashgabat | Turkmenistan 168
Asmara | Eritrea 11
Astana | Kazakhstan 169
Asuncion | Paraguay 89
Athens | Greece 257, 259
Baghdad | Iraq 170, 171
Baku | Azerbaijan 173
Bamako | Mali 13
Bandar Seri Begawan | Brunei 174
Bangkok | Thailand 175
Bangui | Central African
Republic 15
Banjul | Gambia16
Basseterre | Saint Kitts & Nevis 91
Beijing | China 177, 179
Beirut | Lebanon 180
Belgrade | Serbia 260-61
Belmopan | Belize 94
Berlin | Germany 262
Bern | Switzerland 264
Bishkek | Kyrgyzstan 182
Bissau | Guinea Bissau 18
Bogota | Columbia 95
Brasilia | Brazil 96, 98
Bratislava | Slovakia 265
Brazzaville | Congo 20
Bridgetown | Barbados 100
Brussels | Belgium 267
Bucharest | Romania 270
Budapest | Hungary 272, 274
Buenos Aires | Argentina 102-03
Bujumbura | Burundi 21
Cairo | Egypt 23, 25
Canberra | Australia 183-84
Cape Town | South Africa 28
Caracas | Venezuela 104
Castries | Saint Lucia 106-07
Chişinău | Moldova 278-79
Colombo | Sri Lanka 185
Conakry | Guinea 30
Copenhagen | Denmark 281, 283
Cotonou | Benin 32
Dakar | Senegal 33
Damascus | Syria 188
Dar Es Salaam | Tanzania 34
Dhaka | Bangladesh 192
Dili | East Timor 194
Djibouti | Djibouti 37
Doha | Qatar 195
Dublin | Ireland 284-85
Freetown | Sierra Leone 38
Gaborone | Botswana 39
Georgetown | Guyana 108
Guatemala City | Gautemala 110
Hanoi | Vietnam 197
Harare | Zimbabwe 40
Havana | Cuba 111
Helsinki | Finland 287
Islamabad | Pakistan 198, 201
Jakarta | Indonesia 203
Jerusalem 205-06
Juba | South Sudan 41
Kabul | Afghanistan 207
Kampala | Uganda 42-43
Kathmandu | Nepal 208, 210
Khartoum | Sudan 44
Kiev | Ukraine 290
Kigali | Rwanda 47
Kingston | Jamaica 113, 115
Kingstown | St. Vincent &
Grenadines 119
Kinshasa | DR Congo 49
Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia 212
Kuwait City | Kuwait 214
La Paz | Bolivia 121
Libreville | Gabon 50
Lilongwe | Malawi 51
Lima | Peru 123, 125
Lisbon | Portugal 291
Ljubljana | Slovenia 292
Lome | Togo 54
London | United Kingdom
293-94, 296
Luanda | Angola 56
Lusaka | Zambia 57
Luxembourg | Luxembourg 298
Madrid | Spain 299
Malabo | Equatorial Guinea 59
Male | Maldives 216
Managua | Nicaragua 127
Manama | Bahrain 218
Manila | Philippines 220
Maputo | Mozambique 62
Maseru | Lesotho 63
Mbabane-Lobamba |Swaziland 64
Mexico City | Mexico 128
Minsk | Belarus 300
Mogadishu | Somalia 65
Monaco | Monaco 302
Monrovia | Liberia 67
Montevideo | Uruguay 129
Moroni | Comoros 68
Moscow | Russia 303
Muscat | Oman 222
N’djemena | Chad 69
Nairobi | Kenya 70
Nassau | Bahamas 132
Naypyidaw | Myanmar 223
New Delhi | India 225
New York 134, 136
Niamey | Niger 71
Nicosia | Cyprus 304
Nouakchott | Mauritania 72
Oslo | Norway 305
Ottawa | Canada 137-38
Ouagadougou | Burkina Faso 73
Panama City | Panama 139
Paramaribo | Suriname 140
Paris | France 306, 308, 310
Phonm Penh | Cambodia 227
Podgorica | Montenegro 311
Port Louis | Mauritius 74
Port Morseby | Papua New Guinea 230
Port Of Spain | Trinidad & Tobago 143-44
Port Vila | Vanuatu 231
Port-Au-Prince | Haiti 141
Prague | Czech Republic 312-13
Praia | Cape Verde 75
Pyongyang | North Korea 232
Quito | Ecuador 148
Rabat | Morocco 76
Reykjavik | Iceland 314
Riga | Latvia 316
Riyadh | Saudi Arabia 233
Rome | Italy 318
Roseau | Dominica 149
San Jose | Costa Rica 151
San Marino | San Marino 319
San Salvador | El Salvador 152
Sana’a | Yemen 235
Santiago | Chile 153
Santo Domingo | Dominican
Republic 155
Sao Tome | Sao Tome &
Principe 77
Sarajevo | Bosnia &
Herzegovina 320-21
Seoul | South Korea 236
Singapore | Singapore 237
Skopje | Macedonia 324
Sofia | Bulgaria 325
Stockholm | Sweden 326
Sucre | Bolivia 157
Suva | Fiji 240
Tallinn | Estonia 327
Tashkent | Uzbekistan 241
Tbilisi | Georgia 242
Tegucigalpa | Honduras 158
Tehran | Iran 243
Thimphu | Bhutan 245
Tirana | Albania 328
Tokyo | Japan 246
Tripoli | Libya 78
Tunis | Tunisia 79
Ulaanbaatar | Mongolia 247
Vaduz | Liechtenstein 330
Valetta | Malta 331
Vatican City | Vatican 334
Victoria | Syechelles 80
Vienna | Austria 335
Vientiane | Laos 248
Vilnius | Lithuania 338
Warsaw | Poland 339
Washington Dc | USA 159-60
Wellington | New Zealand 250
Windhoek | Namibia 81
Yamoussoukro | Ivory Coast 82
Yaounde | Cameroon 84
Yerevan | Armenia 251
Zagreb | Croatia 340