Sharp Blue Search of Flame is a collection of poems that reminds us, with every syllable and every line, that both the spiritual and, dare I say, the carnal can reside together sublimely. In a world in which we have to ask, daily, 'What do you want? To be God, man, or beast?' Zilka Joseph teaches us that we find each inside every one of us, and they all hold some beauty, particularly in her masterful hands. She asks, 'Can our whirring hearts hold steady?' But how can we, faced with so much truth along this journey?
~A. Van Jordan
This collection is remarkable with its breadth and enchanting language, encapsulating the boundaries—artificial and real—of life in India and the United States.
~Juliana Roth
Rich with the scents and sounds and colors of her native Kolkata, Zilka Joseph’s poetry is also haunted: by the real and imagined violence of the world, by the losses entailed in migration, by the loved ones left behind. Deeply felt and lushly rendered, these poems weave a tapestry of sorrow and celebration, tenderness and outrage, bodily longing and bodily vulnerability. A book as searching as its title. And in flame.
~Linda Gregerson
Where Zilka Joseph excels is in her recording of family stories; the memories are photographic in their sharpness and unflinching in their revelations. She is equally adept in her handling of form to suit the needs of each poem. Altogether, a strong debut collection.
~Saleem Peeradina
If you haven't read any of Zilka's work, go to your local bookstore— now! Her new book Sharp Blue Search of Flame is something that every woman, heck, every person , should read. Her writing style is beautiful and she doesn't shy away from addressing topics of gender, religion, or culture.
~Julia Grace Hill
It's a dark collection that broaches difficult subjects (e.g. infanticide, bride burnings, etc.), but that's no reason to turn away from them.
~Aaron Robertson
A cause for rejoicing among true lovers of poetry, Sharp Blue Search of Flame is a rich gathering by a genuinely gifted poet, blessed with a voice that is all at once ancient and modern and redolent with fabulous surprises.
~Lorna Goodison
Zilka Joseph's poetry collection is yet another unforgettable debut suffused with gorgeous language, rich with the scents and sounds and colours of her native Kolkata, India. Joseph is a writer for the global age. In Sharp Blue Search of Flame she effortlessly traverses a wide array of cultures.
~Kelly Fordon
The poems in Zilka Joseph’s [first] book, Sharp Blue Search of Flame, sear with poignant images and brilliant diction. Whether she’s reinventing myths from Jewish and Hindu Indian culture or commenting on the contemporary American scene, this poet speaks with the authority of lived wisdom. The range of experiences she captures spans from physical pain to erotic joy. Though troubling, even terrifying at times, this world we inhabit still holds great beauty, Joseph insists.
~John Freeman
If the American critic Stephen Burt’s precepts for reading new poetry—look for a persona and a world, not for an argument or a plot—are to be heeded, then Zilka Joseph’s first book eminently meets those criteria. In addition to a distinct persona inhabiting a world of dual cultures, Joseph also makes an argument.
~Saleem Peeradina
Immersive and evocative.
~Jyoti Bachani
In Zilka Joseph's poetry collection Sharp Blue Search of Flame, blessings and shadows sit side-by-side. These poems, drawn from Joseph's early life in India and later the American Midwest, seek the sacred in the world; they find their blessings not only in shrines or ceremonial flames but also in cups of tea and in human relationships [...]
~Jennifer Saunders
Zilka Joseph writes vivid, sensuous, eloquent poems from a world of dual cultures, India where she was born, and America where she now makes her home. Hindu festivals, epic heroes, the natural surroundings of Garuda, King of Birds and cosmic mythology mix in with airports, skycaps, Bob Dylan, Beatles on 45s, immigrant loneliness and a classic Christian night prayer. Her's is a delicate eye tracing fish, birds and flowers, yet a sense of adventure prevails in her long lines as they leap across the page, giving us a sense of fearlessness that makes Joseph an especially enticing poet. I look forward to reading more of her zestful work.
~Colette Inez, Author of the Luba Poems
