Dimapur: Veteran journalist and poet Monalisa Changkija released her third volume of collection of poems titled This Silence, continuing her journey of expressing her thoughts in words that reflect her beliefs as a poet and a fearless and uncompromising journalist.
The compilation of Changkija’s third volume of poems, dating as back as 1991, was released by Dr Darlando Khathing, Pro-Chancellor of North East Christian University Dimapur, in the presence of a modest gathering at her residence at Duncan Bosti Dimapur in Nagaland on Wednesday.
Releasing the book, Khathing said the poems of Changkija, the former editor of the Nagaland Page, are well-received and highly appreciated and included in school, college, and university textbooks.
He said This Silence conveyed a lot of things that are louder than the voice.
“If you go through her poems, you will have different feelings and experiences,” he stated.
Khathing added that some of the poems in the book ask questions and seek answers. However, they emphasise that life will go on even if there are no answers to these questions.
“I am not a singer, but that does not mean that I cannot sing,” he said, referring to one of the poems.
The reviews of the poems in This Silence by academicians and authors from across the region received high praise for the author’s versatility and talent.
One of the reviewers said Changkija’s This Silence is an oath to life lived in its fullness.
In her address, Chankgkija said though the publication of these poems should have happened a decade ago, but it could not be done as everything happens at its own time.
She acknowledged all those who helped her compile these scattered poems into a book form, saying this finished product was not her work alone.