Handwriting (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Michael Ondaatje
- First Published: 1999
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Time of Work: The span of Sri Lankan history
- Setting: Sri Lanka
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Asia or Asians, Hindus or Hinduism, Buddha, Buddhism, Civil wars, Calligraphy
- Locales: Sri Lanka
Michael Ondaatje, an expatriate Sri Lankan, who is now a Canadian resident, has written about Sri Lanka in his fictional memoir, Running in the Family (1982), which is based on two of his return journeys to Sri Lanka. Handwriting: Poems, his tenth book of poetry, is his first book of poetry to focus exclusively on his native country. The book is rooted in Sri Lankan place-names, including ancient cities and rivers, in Sri Lankan customs and traditions, in Buddhism, and in the contemporary civil war there between the majority Singhalese and minority Tamils. Because Ceylon,...
[The entire page is 2008 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
