Somnio: The Way We See It - Paperback

by Pushpa Raj Acharya (Author), Sharmila Pokharel (Author), Yukari Meldrum (Author)

"Somnio: The Way We See It" is a book about mediation between images and words, words and worlds, visions and cosmos, and identities and locations. It is a collection of art and poetry translated into each other by an artist and three poets. They explore the visions of transformations in nature, in everyday lives, and in mobility from one culture to another. In their works, a profound meditation on ordinary details creates lyrical dreams, which are in turn embedded in the lines and shadows of reality. Tiffany Adair's lithographs display a wide range of artistic engagements: the bio-organic worlds appear in creation and decay; the multilayered visions of reality imbricate each other; the blank spaces merge the images of both the outer and the inner worlds. Pushpa Raj Acharya's poems bond the changes in life with the complexities of nature. In this binding, he finds revelations of interconnected world and of forgiveness. Sharmila Pokharel listens to the cadence of immigrant voices and experiences. Living in between the emotions of new and old homes, she gives an authentic form to Nepali diasporic sensibilities. With her capacity of deep observation, Yukari Meldrum has found the magic of things and events in daily life. In her poems, the materiality of life opens a flight to a space where dream and awakening blend with each other, and the words give visibility to this space. "Somnio: The Way We See It" received the Cultural Diversity in the Arts Project Grant from the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton for collaboration and publication.

Author Biography

Tiffany Adair was born, raised, and educated in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She graduated from the University of Alberta in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. Since then, she has won the International Sculpture Center's Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, was selected to participate in the Tokyo Screen Print Biennale, and continues to find ways to stay involved and active in the Edmonton arts scene. She is always looking for new and interesting ideas and collaborations to explore, and has been infected indefinitely by the travel bug. *** Pushpa Raj Acharya is a poet born in Nepal who writes in both Nepali and English. In 2013-2014, he was a member of the Borderlines Circle/Writer-in-Exile Programme at the Edmonton Public Library. His published poetry books include "Chhayakaal (The Phantom Time)" (FinePrint, Kathmandu, 2006) and "Dream Catcher" (Vajra Publications, Kathmandu, 2012). *** Sharmila Pokharel was born in Nepal and immigrated to Canada in 2010. She is the author of three collections of poetry. Her latest work, "My Country in a Foreign Land", is a bilingual poetry collection (co-translated by Alice Major). Her earlier poetry book, "Astitwa Nariko" (1997) and "Amoeba r Kunteeharu" (2000) are both written in Nepali. Sharmila Pokharel has received varies prizes, including the Cultural Diversity in the Arts Award in 2012. *** Yukari Meldrum is a Japanese-English Certified Translator (Canada) who also reads and writes whenever she feels like it. Words simply fascinate her. In addition, she finds that special space between the two languages and two cultures an intriguing place to be.