Linguistic Therapy

Author's Note:
As an enjoyer of spoken word and poetry, I always gravitated towards poems that incorporated other linguistic elements into their work. I have had the fortune of seeing this magic occur when languages such as Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Hindi/Urdu and Tamil were fused with English to make an epic poem that bridges the cultural divide we often encounter. As a Telugu-American, I have always dreamed of doing the same for my own ancestral language and today, I'm proud to say that I finally accomplished it.

Linguistic Therapy is a poetry book that uses a regional Indian language, Telugu, as a lens through which I explore topics such as immigration, cultural identity, food, family, the covid-19 pandemic, heartbreak, grief and ultimately, healing. Through the process of learning 50 new Telugu words, you'll see a glimpse into the role language and vocabulary play in our life at an emotional, psychological and spiritual level. Each word comes with its own emotion, story and experience. This book was written in one of my darkest times as I was working on processing my emotions and lessons I learned through therapy. I hope it brings peace to you, potential reader, the same way it gave me peace working on it.