Overview

Where do those relegated to the margins find belonging? In her luminous debut Unbelonging, Gayatri Sethi deftly interweaves verse, memoir, and a bold call to action as she recounts her experience searching for home in the diaspora. Drawing upon her life story as a Tanzanian-born-Punjabi turned American educator and mother of multiracial children, Sethi tells an intimate tale of stepping into her power while confronting misogyny, racism, and empire. Spanning decades and continents- from Partition to the Black Lives Matter movement, Southern Africa to Muscogee Lands- Unbelonging tells urgent truths, inspires critical self-reflection, and emboldens its readers to pursue radical forms of justice, compassion, and solidarity.

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9781737055020

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Reviews

Unbelonging is a breathtaking, heartfelt, necessary poetry collection. A love letter to the diaspora, Unbelonging embraces readers while challenging them to confront their unspoken privileges. You will leave this book in deep reflection of your own history and identity. You will leave this book closer to your own roots, in touch with your heart, and ready to forge a more inclusive future. -- Jasmin Kaur, Author of When You Ask Me Where I'm Going and If I Tell You the Truth Unbelonging is a radical, profound, and complex piece which will enhearten readers to look both outside and inside themselves. - Pine Reads Review Unbelonging is an unapologetic look into race, culture, misogyny, and more. It seamlessly weaves together memoir, poetry, and self-reflection to create a book that is as powerful as it is beautiful. -- Adiba Jaigirdar, Author of The Henna Wars, and Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating A deeply affecting, badass debut that courageously shares the joys and pains of what it means to be a polycultural American of the African and South Asian diaspora, Sethi offers a sublime new vision for community and global healing. A timely and eye-opening must-read of our times. -- Anuradha D. Rajurkar, Author of American Betiya, a YALSA Best Fiction 2022 Nominee Gayatri Sethi is an exemplar; a fearless poet with the rare insight to grasp the imperative of addressing anti-Blackness to contextualize her own experiences of xenophobia, racism and gender bias on these shores. Listen carefully--her voice is a gift for this moment and beyond. -- Camille Collins, Author of The Exene Chronicles In this sweeping ode to her ancestors and the homelands intimately tied to her identity, Gayatri infuses a blended stylistic narrative with symphonious self-reflection and an incisive call to action. Unbelonging is a mesmerizing debut about truth and naming, colonization and kinship, and a poetic meditation on what it means to be human -- Anjali Enjeti, Author of Southbound and The Parted Earth Through heartfelt inquiries, paired with moving quotes, this book invites young adult readers (and us grown-ups) into our own tender journey of looking inward. We are encouraged to reflect, write in the margins of pages, cross out words, connect, and engage in self-exploration. In the recognition and naming - the heart work of looking deeply - readers are invited to notice their reactions, ask challenging questions, sit with their own truths, and to relax open towards a radical sense of solidarity. -- Rashmi Bismark, MD, MPH, Preventive Medicine Author of Finding Om

"""Unbelonging is a breathtaking, heartfelt, necessary poetry collection. A love letter to the diaspora, Unbelonging embraces readers while challenging them to confront their unspoken privileges. You will leave this book in deep reflection of your own history and identity. You will leave this book closer to your own roots, in touch with your heart, and ready to forge a more inclusive future."" -- Jasmin Kaur, Author of When You Ask Me Where I'm Going and If I Tell You the Truth ""Unbelonging is a radical, profound, and complex piece which will enhearten readers to look both outside and inside themselves"". - Pine Reads Review ""Unbelonging is an unapologetic look into race, culture, misogyny, and more. It seamlessly weaves together memoir, poetry, and self-reflection to create a book that is as powerful as it is beautiful."" -- Adiba Jaigirdar, Author of The Henna Wars, and Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating ""A deeply affecting, badass debut that courageously shares the joys and pains of what it means to be a polycultural American of the African and South Asian diaspora, Sethi offers a sublime new vision for community and global healing. A timely and eye-opening must-read of our times."" -- Anuradha D. Rajurkar, Author of American Betiya, a YALSA Best Fiction 2022 Nominee ""Gayatri Sethi is an exemplar; a fearless poet with the rare insight to grasp the imperative of addressing anti-Blackness to contextualize her own experiences of xenophobia, racism and gender bias on these shores. Listen carefully--her voice is a gift for this moment and beyond."" -- Camille Collins, Author of The Exene Chronicles ""In this sweeping ode to her ancestors and the homelands intimately tied to her identity, Gayatri infuses a blended stylistic narrative with symphonious self-reflection and an incisive call to action. Unbelonging is a mesmerizing debut about truth and naming, colonization and kinship, and a poetic meditation on what it means to be human"" -- Anjali Enjeti, Author of Southbound and The Parted Earth ""Through heartfelt inquiries, paired with moving quotes, this book invites young adult readers (and us ""grown-ups"") into our own tender journey of looking inward. We are encouraged to reflect, write in the margins of pages, cross out words, connect, and engage in self-exploration. In the recognition and naming - the heart work of looking deeply - readers are invited to notice their reactions, ask challenging questions, sit with their own truths, and to relax open towards a radical sense of solidarity."" -- Rashmi Bismark, MD, MPH, Preventive Medicine Author of Finding Om"

Author Information

An educator, writer, and independent consultant based in Atlanta. She teaches and writes about Social Justice, Global Studies, and Comparative Education. Born in Tanzania and raised in Botswana, she is of South Asian Punjabi descent, multilingual, and polycultural. She reflects on these lifelong experiences of identity, immigration, and belonging in her debut book titled Unbelonging. When she is not homeschooling or recommending readings as Desi Book Aunty, she travels the globe with her students and family.

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