Time Will Write a Song for You

Book excerpt: The three-decade-long conflict tore apart the Tamils’ world in Sri Lanka. This anthology, framed by war, brings together poems, stories and a memoir by Tamil writers living there and in the diaspora. Wide-ranging and from recent decades, till the war’s ending, these pieces have been translated with great skill for the first time into English. Stark, and sometimes lyrical, distilling memory, history, mythology and classical literary tropes, they powerfully echo the Tamils’ sorrows and deep fears, their longings and hopes for tomorrow. Laments about youths felled by gunfire, their forced disappearances, the loss of family and homes, desecration of shrines, repeated displacements, becoming international refugees alternate with remembrance of the beauteous forests and sea, of celebrations of Tamil language and culture, and the compassion of women providing people succour. Accompanied by an introduction to set the context, this rich and moving volume reveals the spirit of a wounded island and brings its voices to a new audience.