FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS, the India section

117pp., colour illus., paperback, CD, Pretoria, 2014

Ari Sitas' thirty-two poems reconstruct Jules Verne's journey of 1872. The poems are accompanied by original Kerala artwork by Ammi Atmaja. There is also a CD of original Indian music composed and recorded for this book.

"The narrative is presented, amongst other things, as a quest for the holy grail of the real India. The story unfolds as a journey, an odyssey, an ode to India, with a sensuous poetic quality. The author has captured the kaleidoscope of the sub-continent, in all its infinite and palpable variety. We are dealing here with an intriguing and unusual book, which touches many modes of thinking and experience. I would describe it as a 'tour de force' - animated, passionate and compelling." Betty Govinden

Sociologist, novelist, poet, playwright and cultural activist Ari Sitas was born in 1952 in Cyprus. A founder member of the Junction Avenue Theatre Company, he won the 1978 Olive Schreiner Award for his play, "Randlords and Rotgut". His previous collections of poetry include "Tropical Scars" (1989), "Slave Trades" (2000), "The RDP Poems" (2004) and "Rough Music, selected poems 1989-2013" (2013). He is currently a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cape Town.