CMI Arts Initiative
Date: Friday, 23 February 2024
Time: 6.30 PM
Venue: Virtual Mode
The Sacred Feminine: Women Who Wear Only Themselves
Arundhathi Subramaniam
Chennai Mathematical Institute Arts Initiative.
23-02-24

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Abstract

Arundhathi Subramaniam will talk about the idea of the sacred feminine and read from her latest books Women Who Wear Only Themselves and Wild Women. Women Who Wear Only Themselves is a book of essays which gives us a glimpse into the lives of four self-contained, unapologetic little-known female spiritual travellers such as Annapoorani Amma and Balarishi. The essays are bound together by the author’s enquiry into the “sacred journeys” of her four fellow travellers In the Preface, Arundhathi writes, “These women made no effort to impress. They were gracious enough to share their life journeys, without trying to flaunt their attainments, win recruits, or garner publicity. I am a seasoned listener, and instantly alert to subtle attempts to broker deals.” Wild Women is an anthology of sacred poetry that weaves together the haunting spiritual voices of, by and for women across the Indian subcontinent. It traverses the poetry of ancient Buddhist nuns, Bhakti and Sufi mystics, tantrikas and Vedantins.

ARUNDHATHI SUBRAMANIAM is the award-winning author of thirteen books of poetry and prose, including the recent poetry volume, Love Without a Story, a book of essays on contemporary women on sacred journeys, Women Who Wear Only Themselves and an anthology of poetry Wild Women which explores the voice of female mystics. Her other works includes the acclaimed sacred poetry anthology, Eating God and the bestselling biography of a mystic, Sadhguru: More Than a Life. A well-known prose writer on Indian spirituality, she has been a long-standing arts critic, anthologist, performing arts curator and poetry editor. She is the recipient of various awards and fellowships, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, the inaugural Khushwant Singh Prize, the Raza Award for Poetry, the Zee Women’s Award for Literature, the International Piero Bigongiari Prize in Italy, the Mystic Kalinga award, the Charles Wallace, Visiting Arts and Homi Bhabha Fellowships, among others. She has written extensively on culture and spirituality, and has worked over the years as poetry editor, cultural curator and critic.