This is a poetry chapbook about motherhood with poems in freeverse and haikai forms.
Get your own copy here.
Praise for Mamina:
Mamina is a delicate, poignant, and moving exploration of motherhood from poet Sangita Kalarickal. A fine debut.
– Sean O’Connor Poet, author, and editor of The Haibun Journal
With her first published collection, Sangita Kalarickal has established herself as a potent creative force through poetry that bubbles from the wellspring of her heart. In Mamina, we come to know “Mother” as we have never known her. Between these covers, there is beauty, wisdom, joy, pain, and love—all woven together brilliantly with soft, caring words.
– Richard Grahn Poet, editor and founder, Drifting Sands Haibun
Mamina, mamma, amma, mother, mãe, maa, ammee, mathair… the emotion, the same world over. Sangita connects us to this emotion in Mamina. A collection of eighteen poems narrated in free verse and Japanese poetry forms, vivid with language that sets the tone of tenderness and reflection, and expressed in impeccable style, Mamina is a book one would want to savor on a flight or on a rainy day with a hot cup of coffee.
– Vidya Shankar Poet, writer, teacher, a ‘book’ in the Human Library
This wonderful chapbook is grounded in the matrilineal, and in the challenges and joys of becoming and then being a mother. Sangita Kalarickal’s ability to craft strong haiku is clear throughout the collection, which also features free verse and hybrid forms.
– Caitlin Jans, Poet, founder—The Poetry Marathon, and Authors Publish
Review by poet Terri French, USA
This book brought back memories of my own grandmother–the smells from her kitchen, her lovely soprano vibrato. Some of the poems also made me appreciate and cherish the time I still have with my own mother. And then there is the anticipation, heartache, and overwhelming joy of becoming a mother. Your children make you laugh, give you plenty of sleepless nights, bring you to tears, fill you with pride and joy. Grandmothers, mothers–the memories and bonds we treasure for a lifetime. Thank you Sangita for sharing your journey and helping me to appreciate my own.
Review by Dr. Santosh Bakaya, India
Review by Smeetha Bhoumik, Editor, Yugen Quest Review, India
Mamina is Sangita Kalarickal’s debut chapbook of poetry. A sense of 3-dimensionality permeates this collection, as it is infused with an exceptional awareness of how we may move back and forth in time gravitating towards a loved one, or simply in search of roots/belonging…an inevitable recognition dawning with just a whiff of a fragrance, a whisper of lingering memories. Read more of the review here.
Review by poet Neena Singh in The Wise Owl, Russet and Gold Edition
Mamina is a heartwarming poetry chapbook written by Sangita Kalarickal, a US based physicist, that delves into the joys, trials and exploration of motherhood. A collection of eighteen poems penned in free verse and Japanese short forms of
poetry straight from the heart. The beautiful cover photograph of Slovak corn husk dolls Šúpolky has been designed by Pavol Krivosik. Read more of the review here.
Review by poet Reid Hepworth, Canada
Sangita Kalarickal’s debut collection, Mamina, is a heartfelt offering. It touches deeply and takes the reader on a journey that many women face in their quest to motherhood and to being a mother. At times moving, heartbreaking and raw, this collection showcases Sangita Kalarickal’s ability to pull the reader in and bring them along for the ride. A wonderful read!
Review by poet Geetha Krishnan, India
Mamina, a slim chapbook, is a delight to hold and behold. Read more on Different Truths.
Review by poet Sumitra Kumar, India
As I flipped through the pages of the book, its interior design and paper quality brought a smile of contentment, and reading the very first poem made me nostalgic; the bonding, the memories and the effortless adherence to eco-friendly lifestyles in our younger days when we gracefully enjoyed the luxury of growing up with a loving grandma! Sangita has a splendid way of putting forth her thoughts! Read more of the review here.
Review by Lakshmi Rajaram, USA
Achingly pure and evocative, ‘Mamina’ touches a chord and feeds the soul, like a warm blanket (and hot chai) on a rainy cold afternoon. Your words instantly made me reminisce my childhood and the mother-figures who were integral to it.
I truly enjoyed your poignant compositions, your articulate brevity, to read and re-read them over and over again. Masterfully crafted chapbook, cover-to-cover.
Although many to note, some of my favorite lines from your work:
“Who said that the making of a mother is the privilege of the womb?” – Definitions
“I stare at the mirror on my bathroom wall. And see you through each of my eyelashes and in my crow’s feet.” – Mother’s days
Sangita Kalarickal 