Book Review: Midnight Writers

When “Tottel’s Miscellany” was published, no one could have thought the form it would take after more than 450 years of its publication. Yet, as times have changed, the universality of human expression has not changed and continues to be reflected in the modern work of “Midnight Writers: A Collection of the Finest Poetry, ” which is edited and compiled by Muskan Srivastava. This anthology has given young writers a platform to showcase their talents and abilities of crafting works that give a powerful description of the many things that go on in a person’s mind.

“Midnight Writers” features poets who display a variety of emotions and states of turmoil that a human goes through, and even if the majority of poets are young, they still display their talents which would only blossom into better and better writings as they continue to write in the future. From the soothing sight of the cover to the last pages of activities set, the collection comes across as a work having the potential to give a relaxing experience to the mind.

In the collection of 81 poems, “Dusk To Dawn,” by Priya Kulkarni, “The Waves and I” by Sehaf Haq, “Unrequited Love,” “Divorce” by Laiba Sohail, “Adoration” by Kristina Kerber, “Graveyard to Heaven” by Ruchika Sharma, “The Unknown Path” by Deeksha Raina are just a handful of poems that can only give a brief idea to what the collection has in store for the readers. There are numerous other poems that explore a variety of content and strike the right chord with the emotions of the readers every now and then. In their attempt of exploration, the poems share the reality on the face of it. Such verses include “Cry” by Kunika Rawlani, “I Wish To Create a Monster” by Christian Scully, “Women” by Madhurya Kommuri, “The Woman” by Deeksha Raina and many others.

True of its title, “Midnight Writers” is about the musings and thoughts that could only occur when a person is in a pensive mode in a time when there silence all around, or “far from the madding crowd” as Thomas Gray would call it. Srivastava has chosen the poems and placed them one after the other with care and attention to details. This makes the work of a fine quality and gives it the potential to give a good reading experience to poetry lovers. The simplicity of language and the crispness of thoughts are the other salient features of the collection. The volume is likely to find instant favor and interest of the readers who like reading meditative poetry born out of deep, reflective, and raw thoughts.