UP CLOSE WITH AUTHOR SHASHANK MANE

Interview

Shashank Mane tells is about is literary works and how his worldview is reflected in it.

Conversation with the author of the poetry book The Many Moods of the Moon at the Kahvila Taikalamppu, Helsinki. Mane's lyrical skills take the reader on a trip through universal and transcendental themes, which arise from everyday elements and deep pondering.

Conversation with the author of the poetry book The Many Moods of the Moon at the Kahvila Taikalamppu, Helsinki. Mane's lyrical skills take the reader on a trip through universal and transcendental themes, which arise from everyday elements and deep pondering.

 How have your travels in your early life affected you as an author?

I have travelled since I was young. I think travelling and experiencing different cultures definitely sparked a desire in me to write. Feeling like an “outsider” has also played a big role in my life as an author, given the chance to observe and witness society that hasn’t been one that is naturally mine since birth.  Learning about new perspectives and ways of life, and gathering from diverse experiences as a young person granted me innumerable thoughts and ideas to draw from through my pen.

Have you always written in English?

I have, and believe that I always will write in English. Official “Mother tongues” used to be classified in a different way in India (where an Indian wouldn’t be classified as having English as a mother tongue) and although Marathi is my “official” mother tongue, by Finnish standards, English would be considered my mother tongue as it is the language that I am most proficient in and feel the most comfortable in. I have never experimented with languages other than English in my poetry and fiction. Even though I speak a handful of languages quite well, I feel that my best and most fluid work is in English.

How have other cultures influenced your writing?

India is a very culturally diverse place and since birth, I have been exposed to many different people of various backgrounds and ways of life. I was a Mumbai-born Maharashtrian, of Hindu and Bene-Israeli Jewish descent who went to a Catholic school to learn English all while speaking English, Hindi and Marathi growing up. When I moved to Geneva, Switzerland at a young age, the school I went to boasted almost two hundred different nationalities. Moving to the USA later was no different in terms of cultural enrichment and diversity. I have friends and family of different background and I have been exposed to many different cultures since birth. I think it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t be the person I am without the influence of cultures other than “my own”. I am also grateful for my early life education in culture and diversity and wouldn’t trade that experience for too many other things.

Feeling as an outsider gives you a different perspective on life, and in your writing too?

Absolutely. I have felt like an outsider for much of my life and I’ve now settled into that role quite well. It wasn’t always fun but sometimes I feel that it can be an advantage given the plethora of experiences I have gathered from sometimes uncomfortable and difficult situations. My writing, especially my prose and fiction, is often set in different parts of the world and my characters are also often outsiders or on the fringes of society in one way or another.

Was it first poetry or prose?

It was prose first. I started writing with clear intention to produce prose in early 2014, mostly short and flash fiction and didn’t write a poem until almost two years later. I still remember the first piece of prose that I wrote back in an old apartment in Helsinki and the first handful of poems that I wrote a couple of years later in Espoo.

What does poetry mean for you? Why is it important to you?

Poetry means the world to me. For a long time, it was my way of expressing what I had kept hidden away inside me. It was my form of getting out to the world what I had kept mostly to myself. Much of my work, for many years, drew from past experiences that never really left me. The words, stories, and emotions just lingered inside me until poetry gave me a channel to bring out was present in my mind.As a young person, I had my share of struggles and I found it difficult to verbally express myself at times. Writing became my channel of expression, one that I was comfortable in.

I think poetry is also important to me because of what it can capture and what it can tell, even in just a few words. The unspoken, the hidden, and on the other hand, the blatant truth, is always present in poetry.

How do you begin to plan a new poem? How long does it take when you know it is ready?

I usually have ideas whirling around in my head. They spawn from one or two ideas and then simmer until I sit and write, whether it’s a month from the conception of the idea or a just a day’s distance from mind to paper. Sometimes, I also simply just tell myself that I want to write a poem and sit down to do the work with an idea in mind. I don’t always know what is “good” but usually I get a feeling of contentment when I have finished. I edit the poem until I am certain that the idea has been captured but I have also noticed that a piece of poetry can sometimes be edited endlessly until it is no longer recognizable.

What similarities or differences do you find between the creative process of your short story books and your poetry book?

I usually write short stories in a short amount of time and then spend time editing the work. I work similarly with poetry, where getting the idea captured is important after which I can return to editing the text as I please. Short stories are, in some ways, “easier” to write as I feel I can be more abundant with the use of words. Every word doesn’t necessarily make or break the story whereas in poetry, each word plays an important part in the makeup of the text.My short stories are usually grounded in some form of narrative focused on people, often drawing from facets grounded in “real life”, whether fact or fiction. In poetry, one can be as abstract as one chooses, where a simple emotion can create an entire poem without the poet’s feet every touching the ground of the reality around us in the way a short story might.

How did you choose the name of your book “The Many Moods of the Moon”?

I can’t remember exactly how the naming process for the book started but the Moon was something that came to me quickly as an idea that I wanted to work with. One of the meanings of the name “Shashank” is the Moon. I bounced ideas off my partner, Saara. I think she had suggested “moody moon” (or something similar to that) when the idea just came to me. As a person very driven by emotion, whether positive or negative, I thought the title would be a fitting one for a book of poetry.

When did you start writing The Many Moods of the Moon?

The poems in the book range all the way from 2016 to 2024. Some of the poems feel like they were written in a past life where circumstances were different while others are very fresh in my mind.

What can you say about the main subject in your poetry book?

There isn’t one theme that runs all through the book. There are many “moods” running through the entirety of this work.  I have poems about isolation, friendship, love, heartbreak, and the last couple “Samson’s hair” and “Open skies” are about my daughter, to whom the book is dedicated.

Tell us about the translation into Finnish from your poetry

I have been fortunate to have had some of my poetry translated into Finnish by a couple of translators and friends. Anne Ketola did a great job back in 2018 translating a few of my poems, which I was able to present at a couple of events in Finland. I am also grateful to Veera Tyhtilä and Kasper Salonen for having translated a poem of mine for the Finnish PEN’s compilation work “Sulava”, a mini autobiography of my experiences in life through the scope of languages and cultures.

How have your poems reached readers?

I started submitting (and getting accepted) to journals and reviews and posting my poems on social media outlets quite early on in my journey and I have had a great response from online communities, publishers, readers, friends and family. I have had a great amount of support, which is very helpful. Having a readership and support has made the process one that I certainly cherish.

Are you writing your next poetry book?

I have many poems that haven’t been traditionally published and certainly more than enough for a couple of books at the least but at the moment, I am working on a collection of short stories that I started writing early this year. I also have three novels that I have finished (in 2018, 2020, and 2024), one of which I am quite confident about and looking forward to getting out to the world.