The Prodigal

Suneeta Peres da Costa

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English

Giramondo Publishing
01 November 2024

Poetry; Poetry by individual poets

A debut poetry collection by the acclaimed writer Suneeta Peres da Costa, author of the Prime Minister's Literary Award-shortlisted novel Saudade.

In the title poem of Suneeta Peres da Costa's debut poetry collection, The Prodigal, the protagonist wakes to an imprint of tulsi beads marking her cheek where she slept, 'writing their faint, inscrutable calligraphy'. The poem

recalling Elizabeth Bishop, W.S. Merwin and Derek Walcott

invokes the collection's landscape of peripatetic and displaced being, traversed by themes of Goan and Indian history, diasporic identity, family and friendship, grief and illness, art and life. The book unravels myths of homecoming and return, belonging and displacement, patrimony and sovereignty; the poems' speakers feel both at home and also far from home. Best known for her work as a novelist, Peres da Costa expands upon the range of voices in her fiction, conjuring dramatic personae from Indian history and allegories from suburban Sydney, exploring lyric, narrative and essayistic modes. The collection reflects on artworks and objects: miniature Mughal watercolours and photographs of cockatoos; a tamarillo, a panettone. Passionfruit vines are disentangled; a street cobbler repairs the strap of a bag. Marked by its attention to the body, its strengths and infirmities, Peres da Costa explores the experience of suffering through earthly and human ecologies and primordial connections.

By: Suneeta Peres da Costa
Imprint: Giramondo Publishing
Country of Publication: Australia
ISBN: 9781923106147
ISBN 10: 1923106147
Pages: 88
Publication Date: 01 November 2024
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Suneeta Peres da Costawas born in Sydney, on Gadigal land of the Eora, and is of Goan heritage. She writes fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. Her novellaSaudade was shortlisted for the 2019 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards and the 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, and was a finalist in Field Notes' 2020 Tournament of Books. Her earlier novel wasHomework. Herhonours include fellowships and residencies fromAsialink Arts,the Australia Council for the Arts, Varuna, MacDowell, the Yaddo Corporation and the Fulbright Program. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, New York.