Award winning author and musician Amit Chaudhuri recently launched his second book of poems titled Sweet Shop at the Oxford Bookstore in Kolkata, as a part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival. He debuted as an art curator last year, with his solo exhibition The Sweet Shop Owners of Calcutta and Other Ideas and the book is his second take on the age old, iconic confectionery stores in the city of joy.
“For years, I’ve thought of a few art projects and the sweet shops of Kolkata was one of them, mainly because the portraits of owners hanging from the dusty walls of these stores have always fascinated me. I cannot differentiate between these portraits and that of the great men of Bengal, the assortments on display are like a cosmogony to me,” expressed the University College London alumnus.
Suffused with warmth and intimacy, the lines collected in the book explore the playfulness and nostalgia of sweets from Chaudhuri’s younger days. The poems often take their themes from his saccharine experiences and matches them with the historical consciousness.
The book launch was followed by a conversation between the author and novelist Saikat Majumdar.