She is all of 22, and sublime verses are her calling card. It was evident when the self-assured poetess was invited to The Hague’s Winternachten, an international literature festival for a slam-poetry recital with discussions on Fraternity! The forgotten value of collective feeling. Sanam Sheriff was the youngest, and the Bengaluru lass got to share perspectives with Mohsin Hamid, the Man Booker Prize nominated author, among other eclectic new generation writers.
International bestselling authors Alain Mabanckou and Nino Haratschwili and new international talents such as Fatma Aydemir, Ghayath Almadhoun and Efe Murad conversed as Sanam held on to their words, with words of her own. Suffice to say, she was overwhelmed with the knowledge, and world vision she imbibed.
“Being the youngest person, I absorbed everything as a student of the art. There were people who were successfully doing the thing I am most passionate about, but also people who slowly became friends, regarding me as kin, and that restored my faith in many things.
I made Polish, Syrian, Turkish, Dutch, Pakistani and French friends; some had written six novels, some had a few books of poetry, some were playwrights. It was magnificent. I shared moments with the likes of Mohsin Hamid — to whom I spoke to, and learnt about the transnationality of growing up in South Asia and studying in America, the feeling of being foreign at home, the ‘dream chasing’ that writing is. I got to witness the world of poetry through Ghayath Almadhoun, who writes in Arabic and reads in a voice that is enough to reduce you to tears. He made me laugh the most. Grazyna Plebanek (my first and instant friend at the festival), Fatma Ayedemir, Alain Mabanckou and Bas Heijne too. When I googled these names, I was overwhelmed by how highly acclaimed and respected they were. How it so happened that I was on stage sharing jokes with them is still a wonder. But the way they treated me — how seriously they took me, how respectfully they listened, how genuinely they praised my work — made me feel (overwhelmed) in ways I don’t yet have words for. I felt true community. And possibility. Footsteps to follow,” gushes the student.
The Bengaluru girl who is in her senior year majoring in Creative Writing at the Bryn Mawr College misses the Garden City, recalling how, “Ulsoor Lake was in the background of most memories. I came to Philadelphia after high school. I’m a writer, and poetry is the lens I perceive the world with,” says Sanam.
How she got invited to The Hague is anecdotal “That’s a funny story. I got an email one morning inviting me to a literature festival in the Netherlands, wanting to know where I would be at that time, so they could look into the cost of plane tickets. I was convinced it was some sort of scam, so I ignored it! Two days later, another email. This time, urgent, so that they could finalise lists and get moving with visa processes, etc. I was baffled. The Writers Unlimited team was looking for a spoken word artist to weave into their programmes, and they found my poetry on youtube, and decided I fit the bill,” recalls an excited Sanam who in the past had also won the prestigious All Def Poetry Slam in Philadelphia.
Back to the festival, Sanam recalls, “Winternachten brings writers and thinkers from all over the world. There is usually an overarching topic, and this year it was ‘We The People’ exploring unity and fraternity within and outside the EU in an era of rising nationalism. There were discussions, debates, interviews, musicians, dancers and a collaboration between the arts such as those in which poetry and music spoke to each other. Behind the scenes, writers, poets and thinkers were in conversation with each other — casual and formal, playful and serious.”
A writer’s fairy tale land it was, and Sanam is brimming with the rich learning.
“The international writers were all put up in a hotel a few minutes away from the theatre which was across the street from the parliament building. A few of us became a moving cohort of sorts. The experience transcended the glamour and shine of performance and stage. I was learning about these people through their work, and learning about their work through these people. It was amazing,” says Sanam, who is designer Seema Malhotra’s daughter.
Sanam graduates in May, and is working on a collection of poetry, a thesis to culminate her study. From Mallya Aditi, she now lives amidst castles, lush green and trees, “We’re shedding that teenage angst and finding a self-awareness that will shape who we become,” she says of college life, almost wistfully.
Sanam’s family has always given the wind beneath her sails. The avid basketball player adds, “They let me go to college a few thousand miles away. They settle for a few phone calls and pictures and ask for nothing else in return. They let me dream,” of their unconditional love.
Of her poetry, she’d rather you read it and form your own opinions, saying, “It’s an attempt at the truth. It’s saying more than words can say. It’s some music that’s moving through me. It’s something beautiful, transcendental, almost like silence.”
