Letting It All Out: Kamala Das and Confessional Poetry

Abstract

This paper intends to bring out Kamala Das’s unconventional way of letting her mind out by composing poetry in an uninhibited, confessional and courageous way. Das is considered controversial and often misunderstood for her confessional poetry, a poetic genre which exhibits poet’s personal involvement as well as secret life. She boldly brings out her intensely personal experiences including her journey from girlhood to womanhood, her quest for true love both in and outside of her marital bond, her eternal feminine sexual hunger and man-woman relationship as she has perceived. Her autobiography My Story (2010), in which she narrates her private and secret stories, clearly backs up her confessional poetry. This paper endeavors to interpret Das’s poems as confessional poetry by referring to relevant scholarly articles and interpreting a few poems of Das.