
Contents: Preface. Introduction/I.K. Sharma. 1. A peep into the poetry of R.K. Singh/R.S. Tiwary. 2. R.K. Singh: search for a rhetorical balance/D.S. Maini. 3. 'Phoenix' and 'icarus' reworked in the erotic poetry of R.K. Singh/G.D. Barche. 4. Rainbow Hues: the poetry of R.K. Singh/Satish Kumar. 5. R.K. Singh's poetry: journey from sex to super-consciousness/Chhote Lal Khatri. 6. R.K. Singh: a poet of nature, beauty and woman/P.C.K. Prem. 7. Poetry, politics and woman: a study of R.K. Singh's above the earth's green/D.C. Chambial. 8. "Secret of the first menstrual flow": R.K. Singh's commitment to fleshly reality/R.S. Tiwary. 9. Harmony in duality : Indianness in R.K. Singh's poetry/Mitali De Sarkar. 10. So you creak it: dust and ashes in the poetry of R.K. Singh/Michael Paul Hogan. 11. Music must sound: an 'epic with scratchy Jargon' (the journey of an artist)/I.K. Sharma. 12. Voices and visions: a study of R.K. Singh's my silence and other selected poems (1974-1994)/I.H. Rizvi. 13. Esoteric, aesthetic and metaphysical poetry of R.K. Singh/S.L. Peeran. 14. The poetry of R.K. Singh-an assessment/Abdul Rashid Bijapure. 15. A stylistic assessment of R.K. Singh's "the works and days' weariness"/G.D. Barche. 16. The poetry of R.K. Singh/R.A. Singh. 17. Secrets need words: a critical essay on the Haiku and Tanka of R.K. Singh/Patricia Prime. 18. R.K. Singh: a mystic poet of beauty/Stephen Gill. 19. Manifestation of self as social vision in the poetry of R.K. Singh/Mitali De Sarkar. 20. Above the earth's green/R.S. Tiwary. 21. Indian Haiku and peddling dream/Urmila Kaul. 22. Two pets: a critical survey/Tejinder Kaur. 23. An interview with R.K. Singh/Scolomaniac. 24. An interview with R.K. Singh/Atma Ram. 25. R.K. Singh: poet living in India/Sonja Van Kerkhoff. 26. An interview with R.K Singh/Kanwar Dinesh Singh. 27 An interview with R.K. Singh/Jasvinder Singh. 28. An interview with professor R.K. Singh via e-mail in September 2003/Patricia Prime. 29. 'Foreword' to my silence/Krishna Srinivas. 30. The other side: comments about R.K. Singh's poetry/Lyle Glazier. 31. My silence and other selected poems: a review/Joseph John. 32. Comments on the review by Joseph John/Patricia Prime. 33. R.K. Singh's peddling dream: rich and distinctive/D.C. Chambial. 34. Some comments on peddling dream/Patricia Prime, Ruth Widles Schuler, Ann Davis, Ben Torbieu-Newland and I.H. Rizvi. 35. In the landscape of the self: R.K. Singh's flight of phoenix/Ravi Nandan Sinha. 36. Poetry as prayer: R.K. Singh's above the earth's green/Patricia Prime. 37. Above the earth's green/Asha Viswas. 38. Music must sound: a bird's eye view/Tejinder Kaur. 39. Every stone drop pebble: a critique/Asha Viswas. 40. Cover to cover: two poets again/Patricia Prime. 41. Affirming lucidity: wisdom in the poetry of R.K. Singh and U.S. Bahri/Particia Prime. 42. Afterword/Uncle River. Contributors.
"This three-layered book presents a new face in the supermarket of poetry in English in India. About fifteen scholars, young, middle-aged, and venerable examine from diverse angles the mystique of Singh's poetry. The poet himself unveils certain secrets of his art and heart. Foreign readers take strong position largely at variance with each other and argue their case with utmost sharpness. Such explosive comments find their rightful place in this all-inclusive book.
At the same time, the book clarifies certain issues regarding the creative use of English in India and modern poetry.
In addition, it challenges critics who see nothing but chaos in the world of poetry. 'Chaos' in the book is considered a sign of 'large-scale flowering' and 'creative efflorescence'. Rightly therefore, a plea is made to critics of new generation to shed shyness and sloth and face chaos courageously. 'Face it or you deface your profession of a critic.'
Though the book centres round single poet-an alternative voice-, it, on the whole, advances a cause which should be dear to every reader of English in the country." (jacket)