Description
Lakesong is a debut collection of poems by Lakshmi Kanchi (also known as SoulReserve) published in collaboration with Centre for Stories and Red River Press in Delhi. Featuring poems that tie Lakshmi’s being to the place of her birth, India, and the place where she has found her roots, here in Australia. These poems take the voice of Lakshmi’s mother and father, take the shape of water and spill, and journey through the otherwise unspeaking moments of her life.
Lakesong was developed and published as a result of Centre for Stories and Red River Press’ Green Leaves, Red River writing program.
Lakesong is also available to purchase on Amazon.
About Lakshmi
Lakshmi Kanchi, pen name SoulReserve, is an emerging Western Australian poet of Indian descent. Her poetry explores love and its tumultuousness, fantasy and zest in nature, and allegories that provoke thought and evoke tender feelings. Her writing anatomises the complex linkages between history, language, culture, perception, and nature.
She is a Centre for Stories fellow and the recipient of the 2021 Pocketry Prize for Unpublished Poets. Her poem “Watermarks” was shortlisted for the South Coast Writers Centre’s 2022 Poetry Prize. Read her published works in—”Social Alternatives”, “Portside Review”, “Burrow Journal”, “The Saltbush Review”, “Blue Bottle Journal”, “Seagift Journal”, “Recoil 12”, “Poetry d’Amour—2019, 2020, & 2022”, “Letters To Our Home”, “Brushstrokes II” and “Creatrix.”
She is the current Poet-in-Residence at The Wetlands Centre Cockburn where through engagement, events, and workshops, she is working towards making poetry accessible to everyone in the wider community.
Praise for Lakesong
“Warm, accessible, distinctive. This first collection navigates the complex terrain of the migrant journey. Kanchi writes to place herself in both India and Australia. She writes with a curious and observant eye and with great sensitivity towards the natural world. There is a gentle, but heartfelt warning here of the consequences of ecological disaster, whichever part of the globe one calls home.” – Miriam Wei Wei Lo