About the Book
Book: Medusa and others poems
Author: Sangeeta Gupta
Publisher: Prithvi Fine Art and Cultural Centre Delhi
Price: Rs 250/-
From myth’s cruel gaze to quiet grace, Medusa’s story is reimagined, not as a curse but as a journey of resilience. A woman silenced, vilified and turned into a monster, Medusa and Other Poems reclaims this ancient myth with grace, depth, and emotional precision. Sangeeta Gupta’s latest collection is a meditation on pain transformed into strength, on memory reshaped into meaning. These are poems that do not shout; they reflect, observe, and gently unravel the layered experiences of the self.
There is a compelling stillness to Gupta’s writing; each line is pared down to its emotional essence, allowing space for the reader’s own introspection. The tone is contemplative, often spiritual, as if the verses were drawn not just from thought but from long silences. Grief, abandonment, resilience and inner awakening move through the poems, not as dramatic climaxes, but as quiet truths acknowledged and accepted.
The poet refuses to let myth overpower the human. Medusa, in Gupta’s hands, becomes a mirror for every woman who has endured injustice, misjudgement and emotional exile. But the collection does not dwell in bitterness. Instead, it gently pushes toward healing, towards what Gupta calls “the energy of abundance” — an idea that appears not as a lesson, but as a lived wisdom.
The accompanying artwork, an abstract vortex — serves as a visual reflect of the poems’ inner landscapes. It is eye and abyss, presence and mystery, much like the verse it introduces. The integration of art and poetry in this volume reflects Gupta’s larger creative philosophy: that expression must flow across forms, unhindered.
There is no flamboyance here, no hunger for effect. These poems are an offering, spare, elegant and quietly radical. Gupta speaks with a voice that has endured, questioned, and emerged with clarity rather than certainty. Her lines feel less like statements and more like meditative pauses. In this collection, Gupta also demonstrates a keen ability to balance personal reflection with universal themes. The Medusa figure serves as a gateway to explore resilience and the quiet power of healing, touching on universal truths that anyone can relate to.
It’s a collection that doesn’t shout for attention, but instead, whispers truths that stay long after reading. The book is a deeply personal, yet universally resonant work. It does not demand to be understood in one reading. It invites the reader to return, not to uncover meaning, but to experience presence. It is poetry that stays with you, not through insistence, but through stillness.