Interview With Lalit Kumar

What's a recent piece of writing that you're particularly excited about? Oh,

so I would say, you know, I like to write regularly.

And since I regularly, you know, write for India Currents magazine.

So in fact, my last piece, which was actually published earlier this month, was around, you know, place as a muse or how, so I kind of, you know, interwove that concept about place as a muse, you know, with my immigrant experience and kind of wrote about, wrote an essay about how California influences writers, right? So I think that piece went very well.

So I got some good reviews and comments on that one.

And again, it kind of interwoven with my last poetry book, Yosemite of My Heart as well, which was also on the similar theme, talking about how a place and outdoor can become your muse and how it actively shifts an immigrant's life or anyone's life in that sense, right? Because writing poetry or writing about a place it's all about a dialogue, you know, between the places across time, right? I mean, you know, so I wrote a poem, for example, which intervaled my memory back in India growing up to my now current interactions living in Silicon Valley in California.

So it's kind of a continuous dialogue and that's what I like about poetry as a genre.

It gives you flexibility to kind of blend your imagination, your memory, and your current state or your current place and people that you're interacting with in a very flexible medium.

So that's why I love poetry.

And when I'm feeling more philosophical, I tend to delve into nonfiction and essay writing.

That's great.

Is it hard for you to weave in and out of different genres?

I don't think so, you know, because I think, again, you know, writing poetry or writing essays, it's all about creativity, right? So I don't see, I don't feel, I mean, it comes natural to me, kind of.

writing different genres but the point is I write about the similar theme which is about you know place outdoors nature travel adventure right so I kind of write I keep on the same theme so genre becomes immaterial to me as long as I am able to express my ideas you know Maybe if I try to explore a different subject in a different genre, then I think it might be difficult kind of weaving in and out, you know? But I think if you keep to the same theme, I feel pretty comfortable.