Drunken Boat / Fortunate Traveller Press has announced the publication of Bhutan, a multi-genre collaboration between poet and photographer Sudeep Sen and writer Ravi Shankar. The book combines Sen's poetry and photography with Shankar's prose to create a portrait of Bhutan that moves beyond the country's image as 'the world's last Shangri-La.'
Bhutan, nestled in the eastern Himalayas, has long promoted its Gross National Happiness index as an alternative to GDP-based prosperity. Shankar approaches this claim with analytical rigor and genuine wonder, tracing the country's modernizing monarchy and Buddhist heritage. His prose absorbs landscapes and sacred sites without surrendering critical intelligence, revealing the complicated textures beneath the glossy surface of official narrative.
Sen's poetry and photography provide a counterpoint. His couplets operate as short flashes of organic form, obsessed with color, texture, and the sacred. His photographs of prayer flags, monasteries, and mountain light carry the same lyric precision as his verse. The result is a genuinely integrated work of art, a two-voiced, multi-modal portrait of a country at the crossroads of tradition and transformation.
The book has garnered praise from notable figures. Actress Shabana Azmi calls it 'a unique and personal multi-genre book' that brings alive aspects of Bhutan 'that only true artists can excavate.' Dasho Kinley Dorji, a Bhutanese author, describes it as 'an elegant treasure trove.' Poet Diane Mehta notes that Shankar's 'wit and his sceptical commentary is a foil for Sen's delicate musical poetry,' creating a 'deceptively pretty book' with a two-way narrative.
Ravi Shankar is the author of 18 books and teaches at Tufts University. Sudeep Sen, author of over 25 books, was awarded a senior fellowship by the Government of India for 'outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature.' The book is available on Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/5f3f4aay.
This collaboration matters because it challenges simplistic narratives about Bhutan, offering a nuanced literary reckoning with place, beauty, and the stories nations tell about themselves. In an era of curated national images, Bhutan provides a model for how artists can excavate truth beneath official narratives.
