Overview

'Dance of the day, ' in its essence, is dedicated to exploring the beauty and impermanence of life. It compiles a range of themes, interlinking them through subtle but poignant metaphor, poetic expression, and human emotion. It is an anthology of free verse poetry, mostly adhering to the genre of contemporary prose poetry. It has its roots in naturistic interpretations, with many of the writer's poems drawing on celestial elements, such as the sun, the stars, and the moon, to convey a deep natural spirit and connection to the environment. These are recurring motifs in many of the poems, acting as timeless elements that ground each poem in an almost reverent artistic tone. 'Dance of the day' also dives into myriad abstract and philosophical concepts in its poems, commenting on the impermanence of the self, the discontinuity between reality and fantasy, and the almost tangible link between humanity and nature.The anthology also draws on the author's own perspective on childhood, and evokes a powerful sense of nostalgia and longing in her work. This recurring theme of childhood and the past contributes to an overarching commentary on cultural dichotomy, with the author using specific poetic techniques to contrast her childhood in her home country of Sri Lanka to her current life in Australian society. This innocent, simplistic tone is complemented by 'Dance of the day's love poetry- often incorporating the author's signature naturalistic elements and motifs to create a peaceful, almost calming atmosphere, portraying a strong and genuine interpretation of romantic, platonic, and familial love. Adjunctly contrasting these themes, several of the anthology's poems also focus on dealing with grief and loss, in an individualistic sense and through relationships. The anthology also has a refreshing focus on existentialism and the true reality of the self, in the context of both the social and natural environment of the modern world. The innate beauty of nature expressed in the book is enhanced by each poem's emphasis on impermanence, and the fulfilment that can be achieved by accepting it as such.'Dance of the day' employs vivid imagery and stark expression to truly capture love, grief, longing, and hope- all aspects of humanity and life.

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9781764103299

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Reviews

""Many of these poems express rapturous joy and a certain musicality in the contemplation of nature and love. Yet there are also pieces reflecting a careful and sombre appraisal of separation and death, the loss of all that is beautiful. Dance of the Day is a richly promising first collection, all the more so coming from a poet of such a relatively young age. Karunaratne is a compelling and insightful voice for the present and the future."" -Young Dawkins (poet) ""This collection lyrically conveys extraordinarily mature insights of a 15-year-old Sri Lankan-Tasmanian into the joys and pains of living Throughout her work, there is a sense of relentless soul-searching, an openness to joy and happiness, along with an undercurrent of sorrow, grief and nostalgia. It is a voice torn between the comforts of childhood and the realities of adulthood; the clash between different beliefs and cultures and especially, the binaries of materialism and spirit. Sanuli Karunaratne seems drawn to the invisible, ""all that is not seen"" and a yearning ""to drink of the pond of the soul"". She remembers her kin, especially her maternal heritage: ""the warm milk of childhood"" and ""what I was meant to love"". She speaks with an awareness of the great gulf between romance and reality. In poems like ""a getaway trip', there is loneliness, a hollowness and disillusionment with humanity reminiscent of Eliot's ""The Wasteland"". But, to counteract despair, desolation, grief, her sun is able to ""bake away the sadness of winter"". A deep love of Nature permeates her writing; there is a sensual vitality in her ""dance of the day""; she has an ecological awareness of bees, forests, butterflies, trees, flowers, water, ""the rustling of leaves, the touch of bark' which counteract the bleakness of the industrial suburban world, where "" the squinting grey of the playground' is echoed by the 'groan of trees and evergreen ferns "". Many of her poems seem to be a search for environmental protection but more especially, a search for the freedom of the senses as well as the spirit. The sequence takes on a dance-like form, maybe a tango, which explores love, loss, life and death. But, equally, with a celebration of freedom and the senses, in poems like 'screen directions' and 'the adjudicator', there is a contempt for rules and containment which are anathema to release of the spirit. At times, there is an intense sense of displacement, suffocation, alienation from her roots and of being contained in ""a big black garbage bag"" but at other times, there is childlike joy in ""cheese-cake"" which ""tastes like the moon's lips"". The celebration of her maternal connection is movingly apparent in the poem ""fingers through my hair"". As an endorsement of this unique and quite challenging collection, I cannot recommend it highly enough. I have admiration for, and envy of, one so young who is able to write sensitively and with deep insight, and subtly, without sentimentality. The final poem, 'stolen' is a deeply moving expression of yearning and of loss. Sanuli Karunaratne has an awareness of the nuances of the English language, a gift for lyricism and a knowledge of contemporary poetic techniques. She also shows an acute understanding of the human predicament."" -Janet Upcher (poet) ""Poised beyond her years, Sanuli exhibits maturity and wisdom throughout her debut collection. I see shades of Dickinson with her deep reflections on life's unpredictability, how she captures moments of quiet observation, highlighting the delicate balance between nature and human presence. In the flurry of our daily lives, it's easy to take our surroundings for granted. Sanuli's poems will slow you down, bring out the naturalist in you. Her creative and insightful perspectives are key characteristics of a fine

Author Information

Sanuli Karunaratne is a 15-year-old Sri Lankan Australian writer. She won the Junior Secondary section in the prestigious Dorothea Mackellar Poetry competition in 2024 for her poem 'I Have an Idea, ' and was awarded the Walter Welburn Prize for the best poem by a Country Junior Student in the Spring Poetry Competition for her poem 'whales and rose petals (in your dreams).' She also received 2nd and 3rd place in the Insight Creative Writing Competition in 2024 and 2023, respectively, for her poems 'summer' and 'dance of the day.' She was one of 8 shortlisted writers in the Dymocks 'Beyond Words' Creative Writing Competition and was also longlisted for the same competition in 2023. She also received an Honourable Mention in the 2023 What Matters writing competition in Tasmania. Having migrated from Sri Lanka six years ago, she currently resides in Burnie, Tasmania, with her family, and enjoys reading, drawing, and thinking about doing things but never quite getting around to them.

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