 | Feeding the Ghosts : Poems Find the beauty. In 2017, writer and educator Rahul Mehta began a writing practice to find solace and beauty--in the natural world, in their family and friends, and in everyday simplicities--during a time of political tensions, environmental disasters, a global pandemic, and personal disappointment. From the vibrant color of a blade of grass, to their dog sleeping quietly in the corner, to delicate petals fallen from a rose, a mindfulness of the beauty in their surroundings helped offset the feelings of fear, outrage, and helplessness. The result of this exercise is a profoundly moving poetry collection that explores Mehta's South Asian and Appalachian culture, their Queerness, their relationships with self and others, race, privilege, and a deep admiration of nature and the spiritual realm. With the ear of a poet and a novelist's understanding of narrative motion, Mehta draws in the reader through humor, tenderness, and complexity. This debut poetry collection from the Lambda Literary Award-winning writer is a magnificent celebration of our own ordinary yet miraculous daily lives--an acknowledgment of the "messy beauty... ugly beauty" in the world. Rahul Mehta is the author of the novel No Other World and the short story collection Quarantine . Their work has been awarded a Lambda Literary Award and an Asian American Literary Award and has appeared in numerous publications, including the Kenyon Review , the Massachusetts Review , the Georgia Review , The Sun , and the New York Times Magazine . Born and raised in West Virginia in a Gujarati-American household, they teach creative writing in Philadelphia, where they live with their partner and their dog. |
