Bhutan, a new collaborative book from Drunken Boat / Fortunate Traveller Press, brings together the poetic and photographic lens of Sudeep Sen with the inquisitive prose of Ravi Shankar to create a multifaceted portrait of the Himalayan kingdom. The work, part travelogue, part lyric meditation, and part photographic essay, ventures beyond the country's carefully cultivated image as the world's last Shangri-La to reveal a nation at the crossroads of tradition and modernization.
Shankar, a Pushcart Prize winner and author of 18 books, approaches Bhutan's famed Gross National Happiness index with both wit and analytical rigor. His prose traces the country's modernizing monarchy and Buddhist heritage, peeling back layers of official narrative to expose the complicated textures beneath. Sen's poetry and photography serve as a counterpoint, with spare, musical couplets and visually arresting images of prayer flags, monasteries, and mountain light that carry the same lyric precision as his verse.
The book has drawn praise from notable figures. Actress Shabana Azmi commended the work, stating that Sen and Shankar 'bring alive aspects of this country that only true artists can excavate and paint in their own signature styles.' Dasho Kinley Dorji described the book as 'an elegant treasure trove that captures and displays what is special about our country.'
Sen, an internationally acclaimed poet and photographer whose work has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian, is the first Asian to deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and read at the Nobel Laureate Festival. Shankar, founding editor-in-chief of Drunken Boat, teaches at Tufts University and has held fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell colony.
Published by Drunken Boat / Fortunate Traveller Press, Bhutan is available in trade paperback for $29.95. The full-color edition can be purchased on Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/5f3f4aay. The book is a genuinely integrated work of art, offering a two-voiced, multi-modal portrait that does not shy away from the complexities beneath Bhutan's glossy surface.
