Ms. Militancy: Poems by Meena Kandasamy

When Meena Kandasamy speaks about the contemporary issues of her native India, she incisively reveals the societal assumptions that assign specific roles to people based on caste or gender. When she turns her attention to the past, she deconstructs the heroes. She uses her poetry like a scalpel to dismantle stereotypes.

Kandasamy’s work articulates the voice of the Dalits, the people at the lowest rung of India’s ancient caste system. Despite the fact that the Indian constitution abolished this system, the Dalits still face widespread discrimination.

Kandasamy’s second book of poetry, Ms. Militancy was published by Navayana Press in November last year and retells Hindu and Tamil myths from a feminist and anti-caste perspective.

Read Sampsonia Way interview with Meena Kandasamy.