Icelight

"Because Ranjit Hoskote lives a double life as art critic and poet, we might expect him to be drawn to art history and ekphrasis. But in fact, almost all the poems in Icelight are concerned with shifts in perspective that function not merely as aesthetic tropes, but as a philosophical insistence on the simultaneity of different viewpoints, of cultural differences, and of those multiplicities that compose any self—what Hoskote calls 'the prism of this moment.' His poems derive their thrilling energy from the way Hoskote toggles between precise description and conceptual reflection, modulations that charge these poems with muscular tension."

~Forrest Gander, author of Be With

"At the heart of this utterly beautiful, resonant, and moving collection is a profound sense of South Asia's role in world history, and the title poem's image of an Ice Age artist. The beginning of human attention to animal, nature and the earth, but also the beginning of what human does to earth, 'maimed and gloried' through art."

~Ruth Padel, author of Beethoven Variations

"For poems probing deep ontological and existential concerns, these are remarkably free of lecture or cant. Sophisticated readers will grab especially, but this work is accessible to all."

~Library Journal

"[Icelight] is a remarkable collection of poetry that offers readers a thought-provoking exploration of universal themes and concerns such as the interconnectedness of people through distances of time and memory. Ultimately, Hoskote's skillful use of language, structure, and imagery creates a deeply moving reading experience."

~Ella A. Anthony, Harvard Crimson

"Icelight is a collection that will always keep the reader on their toes. It never presumes to lecture, and yet it delivers discrete little packets of wisdom in an orderly, elegant manner."

~Aditya Mani Jha, Open Magazine

"Visibility must be earned when you read Hoskote. His craft is laced with alchemical properties. Only the reader's intimacy can melt the words that reveal the poem."

~Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee, Scroll.in