Shirani Rajapakse's Blog

Happy to be among these wonderful writers in the Asian Literary Festival. I will be participating in the virtual session. Check out all the speakers below.

The Asian Literary Festival is happening soon in Brussels.

Check out the interview here or read it below.

Interview, MasticadoresUSA, poetry

“Poets hover at the intersections of life and all it encompasses”—An Interview with Shirani Rajapakse

Posted by Meelosmom on 19 August, 2025

Shirani Rajapakse is an internationally published, award-winning poet and short story writer. The author of four collections of short stories and three collections of poetry, her work appears in many literary journals and anthologies. It has been translated into Spanish, Farsi, French, and Chinese. A humble person, she rarely shares that she has won many prizes and awards for her poetry. She has traveled widely, but Sri Lanka is her home.

Barbara: Thank you for visiting with me, Shirani. I’ve enjoyed reading and reviewing your poetry collection, Samsara. And MasticadoresUSA promoted your book, The Way It Is. I’m curious. When did your poetic voice awaken and why?

Strangely enough, the first poem I ever wrote was in French, a language I began learning in my late teens but have since forgotten. I believe I wrote it after reading poetry in class, and I felt inspired to try my hand at writing a poem in French. However, I can’t recall what it was about. I wrote a few poems in English after I left university (my BA is in English Literature, but that didn’t influence my decision to write).

It was only when I started writing fiction that the poetic voice decided to show itself. I didn’t, however, focus too much on poetry as I was more interested in prose. Poetry became the place I came to when I was tired of writing prose and needed a break from writing prose, but still had ‘stories’ to tell. Those first poems were brief, consisting of one or two stanzas. I later expanded and published some of them. Other poems evolved naturally, and I soon found I quite liked writing poetry. I also began to see the poems take on a life of their own and stand out as something I could explore further, along with prose.

Barbara: Your poetry has strong themes related to social and political issues. What is the poet’s role in society, Shirani? How do politics and cultural norms affect your poetry?

Poets hover at the intersections of life and all it encompasses. We are the silent spectators of world events. We are the people who sit on the sidelines and ponder the effects of everything that is happening around us on our lives. We observe as events unfold and provide our own versions, taking into consideration our personal histories, our location, and the cultural and social views and attitudes of our surroundings, as well as our experiences and any other relevant details. As poets, we are in a unique position as we operate between fact and fiction, and we can get away with writing about something without being cut down for not sticking to facts. We let our words unravel on the page.

I live in Sri Lanka, but my inspiration comes from all over the world. I’m influenced by almost everything that takes place around me. Much of my writing, including my prose, is influenced by global events, and I bring a different perspective to the discussions of these events or issues. I sometimes write from a local perspective, looking at the international, as seen in the poems about the effects of lockdowns and COVID. 

Those few years when we were treated like indispensable objects in some strange game revealed to us what our rulers really thought of us, including the international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO was supposed to provide us with accurate information and make informed decisions on our behalf, yet when it came to decisions about how we should be treated, they failed us. Additionally, the attitude of many governments towards their citizens was exposed during lockdowns.

“Vaccine mandates forced on the public.
Decision makers turn away as the dead pile up,
pile up, pile up.
Not their problem not their lives.
Experiments in a deadly game played by a few
with change to spare. Who cares anyway?
They were just getting in the way.
They didn’t matter. They were
nothing.”
(Omnipresence – from The Way It Is)

Influenced by the WHO, which claimed that the vaccine was the only cure, the local remedies that we’d been using for close to 3000 years were pushed aside, leaving many feeling helpless during this time.

“Our histories locked out
in lockdowns
laughed and jeered at.”
(Isolating Ancient Beliefs – from The Way It Is)

The longest poem in the collection, “Omnipresence,” explores how society is conditioned by politics, forcing us to accept views and ideas that aren’t our own but are presented as beneficial. For instance, the discussion about vaccine mandates, as mentioned above. Another is the trans movement, where patriarchy takes over, controlling and subjugating women.

“Mother’s reduced to helplessness as rights groups
encourage, goad, applaud
stuffing young bodies with puberty blockers. Deny
their birth gender. Question the safety or oppose and get
cancelled. Feeble voices drowned by
screeching mobs. Counselling? Not required, except
to get our heads examined for
refusing to let our son our daughter transition
to the preferred gender of the moment.
 
Calls for women only spaces repudiated by the noise of a
strange new generation that doesn’t allow for questioning.
No discussions, no explanations. Theirs
the right to choose while women’s rights
crushed, cancelled. We watch helpless as men who
didn’t amount to anything as men are lauded as winners
in women’s sports, given a free ticket to exploit,
harass, humiliate and strip us of all that we are. But who
cares. That’s the way the world turns.
 
Women’s liberation no longer relevant. Shoved into
shadows as men demand changes. Our body’s language
denied, words erased. No referendum to ask
half the worlds’ population if
they were in agreement with the alterations.
No discussions no talks.
Just enforcement or be called out for racism or fancy
new phrases used to silence. Minorities rule.”
(Omnipresence – from The Way It Is)

A while back, while viewing clips about the situation at the US-Mexican border, I was struck by a video of a makeshift tent that had items that were used by children. The person filming it mentioned that they didn’t know where the children had been taken to or who had taken them. The fact that thousands of children were being trafficked was astounding. Even more horrifying was that we would never know how many lives were lost.

“where
 
are you now?
 
where can I find you, little one?
where did they take you?
 
is it a better place as they said it
would be
or are you among the monsters
that paid for your flesh
 
unable to break free?
(Who Can Say? – from The Way It Is)

Poetry doesn’t have to be about a single incident or be confined to a particular place or time. Poets can creep into uncomfortable spaces and expose the lies and wrongdoing. Poetry prompts us to consider the consequences of our interactions with one another. It hovers in that tiny space where the media sometimes might not want to go, due to the views held by the particular media house. But poets don’t have that restriction. We can describe the uncomfortable, expose the wrong without having to name names.

Barbara: What I like about your poetry is that it expresses universal truths. What are your favorite themes? What would you like your readers to learn from your poetry?

I don’t have any particular favorite themes as I tend to write about anything that interests and intrigues me. I also try to expose the lies we are fed daily through the media and other influencers, and attempt to bring a different perspective to an incident that has occurred or is currently under discussion.

However, I think there are some themes that I’m inclined to return to over and over. The rights of women, children, and animals, justice and belonging, and grappling with identity in a fast-changing world are themes that are very much in evidence in most of my work. These are universal themes that affect most of us, wherever we live, as they impact our lives in some way or another. For instance, politicians failing to deliver on promises is a universal theme, and we can all relate to it.

“But I know those fake smiles
stretched brightly across faces
will soon turn to sneers.
Promises will fade
like old paint on walls
that crack and fall away.”
(Getting Ready to Party – from The Way It Is)

Identity is another theme I come to over and over. We all face issues of belonging or not belonging, as well as feelings of displacement and isolation in a world that’s rapidly changing. In “Letting Go”, I was drawn to the story of a Syrian refugee in the UK who felt unsafe, even though she had come to a supposedly safe place. It spoke about how she felt trapped and unable to get out, as she was afraid of being stopped and harassed. I found similarities in this feeling of isolation and not belonging in stories I used to hear about Sri Lankans who migrated to the UK in the early 70s. They spoke of their experiences of trying to fit in yet still not being accepted, and how they felt they had to adjust, to conform to a particular way of life.

There is a certain sense of loss and uncertainty that many face when they try to hide who they really are to move forward with their lives. But what happens when that sense of loss can’t be beaten down? How then does one navigate that gray area to come to terms with and accept one’s new identity?

The loss and transformation from someone to no one starts with one’s name. Our names hold significance in our language and country. They signify where we come from, sometimes even the region, place, or religion and ethnic background. We can identify people from their names. However, when one moves to a different country, those associations and the familiarity one experiences change, as they often lack meaning or acceptance in the new environment, and we become almost like shadows of our former selves.

“My name means nothing
in another country.
 
Invisible lines running across the earth
create mountains of dissent.
Go this way and I am who
I am recognizable in the mirror.
Move that way I become
a cloud silently wafting by unnoticed
through the traffic, and in the other
direction I’m a mere whiff of breeze
hidden inside a travelling bag.”
(Letting Go – from The Way It Is)

The idea of color is another crucial issue we grapple with. In this part of the world, everyone wants to change their skin tone to look “white” because it is sold to us that having a lighter skin tone is better. It’s also deeply embedded in the culture for centuries, probably as a result of colonialism, that lighter skin tones are considered superior and hold more power. Previously, it was only women who were trying to change their skin color, but men are now following this trend as well. It’s become a craze. Yet no one realizes that this is an impossibility because, however much we change our outer appearance, we still remain the same. We become an anomaly amongst our peers. Being brown skinned affects us in many ways. Some families even look down on children with darker skin tones. This is a strange obstacle we seem to have created. We seem to be creating problems out of nothing when there are already enough to deal with.

“I didn’t ask
to be brown. It wasn’t
an option. It just was
that way. Brown,
a color that had so much
significance, a color that could make
or break a fortune
if it decided.
I didn’t know the politics then, too
small to read between the lines.
The homefolks didn’t make
much of it. There were myriad shades in
the family tree.
 
But the world made me feel
the difference, made me know that
some skin tones were better than others, lighter
was preferable, yet how could that change
what I felt inside?
No one could answer.”
(Colors Speak My Name – from The Way It Is)

Readers experience a wide range of emotions and topics through my poems. They also get to see a different perspective on a particular theme than what they may be accustomed to.

I’d like my readers to learn about the place I come from, not just Sri Lanka, but South Asia, as many of my works have a South Asian slant. There are many issues discussed, such as how globalization affects most people in the South, and the effects it has on ordinary folks are similar everywhere.

In “Whose World Is It Really?” I observe the disconnection between the privileged and those demanding a reduction in carbon emissions. Yet, they demonstrate through their actions that they are just as guilty, irresponsible, and don’t honestly care about others.

“Teens fly in on fuel guzzlers
connect with each other on mobile
devices emitting electronic waves of pollution
into the air. Criticize us for not doing enough.
They want a future, those
privileged brats that spend more on
electronics than the average person.
They only understand their way of life.
Never had to go hungry.
Never had to feel
the gnawing pain
churning inside stomachs.
Never had to wonder why the roof leaks
every time it rains.”
(Whose World Is It Really? – from “The Way It Is”)

We all face the same issues wherever we live; it’s the way we deal with them that differs and is conditioned by our socioeconomic and cultural upbringing. I hope that my readers can take a step into my world, see things from my perspective, and understand that we are not significantly different.

Barbara: “Samsara” and “The Way It Is” have feminist themes. Why are these collections crucial for young women in particular to read?

When I read the question, I had to stop for a while and reflect on it, as I hadn’t considered these two to be in the feminist camp. It’s always interesting to see how readers respond to my work, as it prompts me to rethink my writing.

I believe it’s the approach I take to any subject, whatever it may be, that comes from a feminist perspective. I don’t go seeking to make it feminist or anything else; it just is. I suppose it’s because issues of women’s rights and justice are ingrained in me, and my writing views every topic from this slant. They run through my writing like a recurring thread.

I curated the above two collections with different themes in mind. Samsara is more about inward journeys and looking at life from a Buddhist perspective. “The Way It Is”, on the other hand, is more overtly political in expression. However, as mentioned above, the way the poems unfold and the approach I take to the discussion are very feminist. While both collections are very dissimilar, their discussions are universal and relevant to all.

I believe the most feminist collection of all four of my books is “Chant of a Million Women”. This collection serves as a testament to the way women have been regarded, from the past to the present, and what it means to be a woman in a world where we still don’t have a complete say in how we are treated.

“He wants to transform me,
craft me into a lost soul straining
under a dark veil.
A form that’s dead inside.”
(Control – from Chant of a Million Women)

I believe this collection is more relevant now when women-only spaces are being hijacked by men; women’s sports are controlled by men; and women’s bodies are policed by men. Even when a woman is raped, it’s her fault. She must have encouraged it.

You may be a young girl going to school or even a Goddess. However, the way you are treated because you are a woman is still something we need to discuss, because that conversation about women’s bodies and women’s views isn’t taken seriously. It’s considered only when something terrible happens and society is shocked into speaking up, but at other times, it’s just forgotten, and women become invisible. It’s sad considering we are approximately 50 percent of the world’s population, yet we are still forced to conform to manmade rules, to the way men want us to be who we are. What also struck me as rather startling is that, despite the strides we have made, many areas are still male-only spaces. For instance, even in Hindu temples, the Goddesses are controlled and “managed’ by men. I wrote “Goddess in Chains” after a visit to a Hindu temple in the north of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. I had arrived early; it wasn’t time yet for the Goddess to be displayed, and I watched from the side as a man entered the room where the Goddess was and began cleaning it, washing the statue, and dressing it for the day. It struck me as very strange that it was a man doing this – undressing and bathing a Goddess, even though it was a statue. I still don’t understand why women aren’t allowed to “manage” the shrines of Goddesses.

“He’s in charge of her every move,
all of her he owns.
Every action controlled
far better than
a performer in the circus
moving to the ringleader’s whip crack.”…..
 
“He leaves her behind the curtain
to wait for his command while
crowds gather
straining for a view through the door.”….
 
“Pattini, Durga, Saraswathy,
Badrakali, Lakshmi,
dancing to his tune.
Goddesses all, invisibly chained.
Kali, you too, stepping to his beat.
Immortal souls imprisoned
by man, doing as he wants.
Caught in a cycle of deception, Goddesses
hard at work selling their wares
to the highest bidder.
The pimp calls the numbers.
She’s forced to perform. Rules have changed.
 
Goddesses in chains.
Smiles don’t reach inside.
The faces are the same.
None of them free, no longer in control.
Dancing to the man’s command.”
(Goddess in Chains – from Chant of a Million Women)

In “Asking for It” the discussion is about how the male gaze controls every movement and decision we make.

“They say I’m
asking for it because they
don’t like the clothes I wear, want to
put me in a shroud. Yet the picture
on the net someone posted
the other day says it all—the man groping
a woman in a burqa, all covered up
like a big black garbage bag,
nothing showing, not even the eyes. But no.
 
I’m wrong.
I’m a woman.
I should know better.”
(Asking for It – from Chant of a Million Women)

The poem “In the Desert” is a questioning of the view of Islam on the rights of women and how a woman’s word is considered inferior to that of a man’s. It was written when a young Sri Lankan girl who had gone to the Middle East for work was arrested for adultery. The man was let off easy, while she was sentenced to death by stoning. This was later commuted to jail time. I wrote this when the death sentence was announced, with the seemingly different treatment given to the two people involved.

“How many stones do you need
to kill a woman?
Is it the same amount needed to
kill a man, or is there a difference
in the sexes?
A mountain for a woman, a mere pebble
for a man?
Who makes the decisions?
 
It is all men.
Always the men.”
(In the Desert – from Chant of a Million Women)

Barbara: What are your favorite poetry forms, Shirani?

I’d say it’s the Ghazal, Haiku, and free verse. But I don’t write the first two. I just don’t have the patience to sit with a poem to make it work. I’ve tried and given up writing haiku and ghazals, but I still hope that someday I will be able to get the hang of either one of these forms.

As for free verse, it just feels right. It has that quality that lets you write in any way you want. Take chances and create work that retains a quality of poetry, yet at the same time not sticking to rules that confine one’s thoughts to a particular way of writing. I started writing free verse because the lines for poems kept being composed in my mind at a rapid pace, and I just wanted to write them down before I forgot them. The fact that they didn’t rhyme didn’t deter me. In fact, it helped me to say what I wanted to say in precisely that way. I think that if I had stopped to work out a rhyme scheme for the poems, I would have lost a lot along the way. It’s not that I don’t like structured forms; it’s just that I don’t think they work for me. Besides, even though free verse doesn’t rhyme, you can create a lot of movement with the words used, through repetitions, the sounds generated through similar words, rhyming words, and the way words are placed on the page, making it almost like a performance on the page. The visual of the poem, how it occupies the space on the page, should be as effective as the meaning of the words.

For instance, “The Arrival” was written about a person who travels from the East to the West in the 1960s or 1970s and describes the feelings of loneliness, isolation, and the struggle to fit in. However, this is not something particular to people moving from the East to the West, but rather a phenomenon that occurs within the region or from one part of a country to another, such as from rural to urban areas. Do we try to change the way we are, how we are to fit in, or do we remain true to ourselves? This feeling of not quite belonging to a place or being part of the community is revealed in the fractured lines that move all over the page, demonstrating a sense of rootlessness or helplessness.

“How do we fit in 
 
suspended
 
between worlds
their differences stark reminders of
what we must become
shadows
of our true selves
turning, twisting
and
twirling
 
to fall 
 
lift ourselves up
and do it all again.”
(The Arrival – from The Way It Is)

I think poetry should look good on the page as well as sound good when read out loud, and it should be able to create images in one’s mind as the ‘story’ unfolds.

“My words my tunes
my history my life slowly killed, but folks that make
the rules don’t let minds work that way.
My voice they still; my lips they seal
and my words,
my words.
 
My words they force
into hiding with threats of death.”
(A Forced Silence – from The Way It Is)

Barbara: I’m sure our readers would like to know your writing process. Would you consider yourself a disciplined writer, or do you write from inspiration? How much time do you spend revising your poems?

When poems start in my mind, I just go with the flow. I later edit them, but the main work happens when the poem begins. I tend to compose it in my head about 40 percent and then get it down on the computer, where I work out the rest. However, that initial push must come first. I need to see the images created by the words unfold in my mind like a small movie. It is only then that I write. Once it’s down in black and white, I keep returning to it as many times as is required before I’m satisfied with the version in front of me. However, the problems with editing are that it’s never-ending. There are poems that I’ve edited even after the book is formatted and ready to go into print. It’s exhausting, but also exhilarating, as I know that even that last-minute change can make a difference.

I’m not a disciplined writer, and I don’t have a specific writing process. I just write whenever the muse appears. This could be anything, from walking along the road to being in the middle of a meditation session. I live in the same house I did as a child. While walking through my neighborhood to town one day, I suddenly found myself reminiscing about my childhood and how everything seemed so different now. As I passed certain places in my neighborhood and the town, I kept seeing the past, and those images connected to become “Nostalgia”.

The poem “On a Saturday Morning” was written while I was practicing walking meditation at a temple. It had been pouring the previous day and all through the morning, and although the rain had ceased, we couldn’t go outside and had to be content with walking in the covered space connected to the meditation hall. The walking path I had created for myself ended at the edge of the covered space, where a small puddle had formed from the water falling from the roof. Usually, the earth would absorb the water from puddles very soon, but it had rained so much that the puddles remained as they were, looking like small pools. There was a thick layer of sand on the ground, and even if it was raining, the water would usually drain through the sand, leaving it wet but not soaked. The fact that the water was not draining from the sand suggested that there was no space left for it to drain.

The first few lines just formed as I stared at the puddle in front of me, and as I continued to walk, my meditation was interrupted by the flow of lines connecting that first line. I had to pause my meditation to jot them down on my phone before I could resume it.

“Earth is saturated. She can’t drink anymore.
 
Little drops of leftover rain congregate
in groups to plan their next move.
Turning faces skywards they
pray for guidance, but the new clouds
all clean and washed puff themselves up making
fun of the rains’ predicament.
Passing overhead leaving only momentary shadows
they peer into the raindrops eyes
to check on their reflections.”
(On a Saturday Morning – from Samsara)

The images for what would become the following few stanzas also came to mind, but the lines didn’t. That came much later when I started writing and revising the poem.

It’s both fascinating and frustrating not to have a writing process, as I’m always inspired to write (except when I experience very long writer’s blocks, which I have come to accept as the brain’s way of taking a break). However, it’s also very tiring as it’s a never-ending cycle of inspiration that often happens even in the middle of the night.

Inspiration is everywhere. Sometimes there’s too much. Anything and everything around me can be an object of stimulation or can lend itself to an example in a poem. I’m motivated by other writers, nature, what I read online, listening to people talk about just about anything, and beautiful music.

I don’t listen to music while I write, but I think it’s a key factor in my writing as the memory of music plays in the background and makes itself known in the poems themselves, either in the music from nature or a reference to music or musicians.

“Outside her window trees tossed their heads,
branches swayed from side to side like people waving
arms at a concert. Birds paused their song
to listen to the deep voice rising from inside.”
(The Cellist –from Samsara)

Barbara: What advice do you have for emerging poets, Shirani?

Read other poets. Read the classics, but also read contemporary poets. Observe how each writer approaches a subject and what each of them brings to the form. Anyone interested in writing should also write, and a good way to start would be to look at writing prompts. These are great exercises for the brain, as they make you move out of your writing comfort zone and get you to look at things you wouldn’t consider or even feel comfortable with.

When I started submitting poems to journals, I submitted to themed issues. One of my first submissions was for the protests about Wall Street in 2011. The Editor of the issue spoke about how she looked down from her hotel window onto colorful tents all over Zuccotti Park, and that became the inspiration for the poem I wrote. I’ve never been to the US, nor did I see what she saw. Still, the image she painted created this visual in my mind that combined with the visual in front of me outside my own window of tall trees and multicolored crotons that then became the background for this poem, creating the link between two countries, two places that were so diverse yet so similar in the idea of rights and justice. I won’t quote from the poem as it’s best to read it. It’s in “The Way It Is” but you can also access it here. https://aboutplacejournal.org/issues/wall-street/contents/shirani-rajapakse-3/

Barbara: Your poetry is highly acclaimed. How do you stay centered?

I’m content with what I have and what I have achieved. I’m happy that people read and enjoy what I write. I haven’t been writing for all that long, and the fact that I’ve managed to write so much, publish, and get commended for my work is a tremendous honor.

I have accomplished a lot in a remarkably short period – 16 years of consistent writing and publishing. I’ve put in a lot of effort into writing, and it hasn’t come easily. There have been many, many rejections over the years, but also quite a few successes, and I cherish these little victories because they come from a lot of hard work.

It’s nice to be appreciated, and I value everyone who reads my work either for pleasure or to review and give me feedback. I learn from their views.

I think my Buddhist background is what keeps me centered because it helps me understand the transience of everything, including accolades and writing itself. I appreciate the fact that I can write, and I have this talent that I never had twenty years ago. Or maybe I did, but I just didn’t want to find out. I’m happy to be writing, even though inspiration flows so fast that it gets tiresome to keep writing all the time. I know this will not last; one day, I’ll lose interest in writing, or even if I’m still interested, I won’t be able to write because the muse may have had enough. That idea that it might not happen is what keeps me centered on what’s important in life, like relationships, connections, inner peace, and being true to myself.

Barbara: Who is “Shirani Rajapakse”?

Just an ordinary human being who’s trying to paint beautiful stories with words that hopefully the world takes note of.

Thank you for allowing me to talk about my work. The questions were interesting, and I took a while to respond as I kept returning to them over and over with many new details I wanted to share.

Barbara: Thank you so much for this visit, Shirani. I am honored and delighted to feature this information about your life and journey as a poet. Thank you for sharing excerpts from your books! 

Submit to MasticadoresUSA and subscribe for more great reads! 

Here are the recordings of the two poetry sessions where I’m reading poems with all these wonderful poets. Follow the links or check it out below. You are the World starts with a introduction by Jeet Thayil and I start reading at 1:31. Women Sing the Blues, starts with an intro by K Srilata at 27: 50 and I start my session at 28:51.

Memories of the two poetry readings at the 9th Edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival 2025.

I’m reading poetry at two sessions. This is day 2 on August 3rd. The theme of the session is “Women Sing the Blues”.

I will be reading poetry at two sessions. The first one, “You are the World” is with other world poets and will be on August 2nd.

Honored to be participating in the 9th Edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival taking place on 2 & 3 August, 2025. Thanks to the organizers for the invitation.

Honored to be part of this group of poets at the 9th Edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival taking place on 2 & 3 August, 2025 in Bengaluru, India. Check out details about the festival here.