丁香园AV

From Homer to Tolkien, to the South Asian fables of her childhood, Ren茅e Sarojini Saklikar loves a big read. A graduate of the Writer鈥檚 Studio at 丁香园AV and current instructor in the program, she鈥檚 now written her own book for the ages. , an epic fantasy in verse, was published by Nightwood Editions this summer and immediately landed on the B.C. bestsellers list.

Set in an alternative world ravaged by climate change, the book recounts the tale of Bramah, a 鈥渂rown, brave and beautiful鈥� time-travelling locksmith. After she adopts an orphan beggar boy, the pair team up with seed savers and other survivors, using their magic to outwit an evil consortium and battle contagion, drought and other eco catastrophes.

The book may sound like a far cry from the work that first put Saklikar on Canada鈥檚 literary map. Published in 2013, her award-winning debut poetry book children of air india explored the bombing of Air India Flight 182, a tragedy that claimed the lives of her aunt and uncle, and more than 300 others. Almost as an antidote to this traumatic subject matter, Saklikar began writing Bramah at the same time, indulging her love for imaginative, sweeping sagas.

鈥淓very culture has its great epic,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been drawn to them, the fireside stories of the matriarch telling you about how the world is, and inside of that frame, very personal stories.鈥�

Although Saklikar began the story 10 years ago, its central themes of global inequality and climate change seem oddly prescient today, given the alarming events of recent months.

鈥淭he role of the poet is to be a bit of a prophet, but it was eerie and surreal,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen it came time to publish the book, I was revising stories I鈥檇 already written about pandemics, climate change, terrible droughts鈥� It鈥檚 like the outer world caught up with my imagination the last year.鈥�

Despite these dark themes, the book is also a 鈥渞attling good read,鈥� says Saklikar. 鈥淭he poetry is serious but quite accessible. It was a lot of fun to create鈥攖here are riddles and rhymes, ballads and songs鈥攁nd I鈥檓 hopeful every reader will find something in it.鈥�

Bramah is the first book in her new fantasy series titled THOT J BAP: The Heart of This Journey Bears All Patterns, a phrase inspired by T.S. Eliot. Reflecting on her work, Saklikar quotes another inspiration, The Lord of the Rings, on the importance of 鈥渢he great stories鈥� the ones that really mattered.鈥�

鈥淚 wanted to write a story that really matters,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 hope when people finish this first book, they鈥檒l have fallen in love with these characters and want to know what happens next. To create in poetry something that moves your heart, that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�

Saklikar completed the Writer鈥檚 Studio program more than a decade ago, but she hasn鈥檛 strayed far. In addition to teaching in the program, she curates the monthly Lunch Poems readings and remains a fixture in the local writing community.

鈥淲riting can be a very lonely occupation,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he Writer鈥檚 Studio offers a community, mentorship, opportunity. Before I joined, I didn鈥檛 really have a language to describe myself as a writer.鈥�

In fact, before becoming an author, Saklikar had been a practising lawyer. Today she has no regrets about leaving behind her legal career to follow her true passion. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not always a bed of roses,鈥� she admits. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not always easy, especially when I鈥檓 committed to meticulously creating works of art that are innovative and interesting.

鈥淔or me, in the end it鈥檚 about staying true to the work and trusting that I鈥檓 going to make the best art that I can.鈥�