Description
Afshan D’souza-Lodhi’s debut poetry collection re: desire explores the yearning to love, be loved and belong from a desi (South Asian) perspective. Her work sits on the intersections of flash fiction, poetry and script, echoing the hybridity of the worlds that many young British desis find themselves occupying. Drawing on the poetry of many different languages and cultures – Urdu, English, Konkani, Islamic and Christian – this collection explores how we access our traditions from a distance.
re: desire is a collection of poetry that draws upon literary traditions and cultural references to flip the male gaze common in mushairas on its head. Common themes for mushairas are love, God and being drunk or intoxicated by love and God – but is usually seen from a male perspective. The pieces in re: desire are mainly told from a female perspective, and question the gender given to particular acts, objects and ideas.
Habeas Corpus 
Somewhere Else Entirely 
The Pout-Pout Fish Cleans Up the Ocean 
Somebody Swallowed Stanley 
The Handle of the Door 
A Sonnet to Science 
A Colomber in the House of Poesy 
Rumi: The Big Red Book: The Great Masterpiece Celebrating Mystical Poetry 
River Lane 
Poems & Fragments 
Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods