Appalling Silence (Urdu and Telugu Translations)

“When I heard Neal Hall read his poetry at the Hyderabad Literary Festival in January 2015, it instantly struck a chord. The power and beauty of Neal Hall’s poetry is gripping. His poetry reminds us of struggles long over, and of struggles that continue without respite day after day, the losses greater than the victories, more painful and yet, a shared anger and refusal to see this as the end of the road. The victories, slim as they are give us strength.

I had never imagined that one chance meeting would grow into such a rich collective endeavor. It is a proud moment for us at the Council for Social Development to have had Neal Hall as a Scholar/Poet-in- Residence – our first – and to be able to connect him to poets in the city in a translation project that has been a source of undiluted pleasure and deep satisfaction, not to speak of immense achievement.

Appalling Silence is the first signpost – set up together by Neal Hall, Jameela Nishat (Urdu), Sahitya Akademi Award Winner Volga (Telugu) and Vasanth Kannabiran (Urdu, Telugu and English)- in what promises to be a long and mutually enriching collaboration. It also marks the beginning of a new chapter in the coming together of literatures and literary sensibilities in the city of Hyderabad, and indeed in India.”

Prof. Kalpana Kannabiran, Director, Council For Social Development, Hyderabad, India