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Open Books: Events
December 03, 2009 07:30 PM
THOMAS PRUIKSMA
Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar ($17.95 Red Hen) is a collection of lively aphoristic poems translated from Tamil by Vashon Island resident Thomas H. Pruiksma. Avvaiyar is a name roughly meaning respected older woman or female ascetic, and these poems, thought to have been written in the 12th century, offer timeless worldly and spiritual instruction. "The water that runs from the well to the rice / also waters the wayside grass. / If on our old earth / there walk one upright man, for his sake / everyone receives rain." Pruiksma's translations have a graceful, rhythmic ease about them, including those poems that offer the occasional sharp judgment -- "Some trees, without flowering, bear fruit. Some people / without prodding, attain knowledge. / Even if you till / some seeds won’t sprout. Even if you drill / dolts learn nothing." The poems are printed in Tamil and English, and Pruiksma will present them in both languages. This is a rare opportunity to engage with and be engaged by one of the oldest languages on the planet, certainly a happy first in the life of Open Books!
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