The Present volume is the only one devoted to the study of Daruwalla’s poetry. Keki N. Daruwalla is perhaps the only Indian English poet as upholder of truth and a bitter critic of humbug. Robert Graves aptly describes him as a poet with ‘the compulsion to tell the truth, however cruel’. Over the years, his six volumes of verse have shown how the poet has consciously gone on perfecting his poetic technique. He has pursued relentlessly for the counter –thrust, the irony. Finally he has achieved the Knife-edge tone. Unfortunately, the poet has been of residual interest to the critics. The fact that he has won the 1984 Sahitya Akademy Award for his volume, The Keeper of the Dead, gone to prove that this belated recognition has established his name as one who shifts truth from prejudice. All his volumes of verse are subjected to a keen critical analysis. Even his latest Volume, Landscapes (1987), OUP, is brought under the critical spectrum and is shown how the poet’s conscious imagination has shaped the volume into a coherent creative work. The book consists of nine articles by reputed critics from India and abroad. In addition, there is an interesting interview with the poet held by the editor of the book through correspondence between them. Some of the distinguished contributors to the book are Norman Simms (New Zealand),Bruce King (USA), M.K. Naik, C. Narula and Prashant K. Sinha. These distinguished critics have evaluated different aspects from the poet’s Oxford Revisions, the design of his poetry to the various thematic problems. The Critical made assumed by the contributors often exists in a kind of autonomy, relating as well as conflicting with one another and in turn producing a kaleidoscopic perspective. Besides, the book has a critical introduction and a select Bibliography. The volume will prove highly useful to the students, teachers and researchers in true appreciation of the poet’s creative writing.
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