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New Releases from Bay Area Authors

Ramayana: Divine Loophole written and illustrated by Sanjay Patel
(Chronicle Books, 2010, 184 pp., $29.95)
     Sanjay Patel has some nerve. When he takes up the Ramayan in his new graphic novel, he gives the ancient Hindu mythology a little urban edge and works some magic. In his imaginative retelling of the epic Indian tale of Ravana, Vishnu, Rama and Sita, he traces the adventures and antics of the gods, sages, warriors, animals and demons of his Hindu heritage in bold, blocky geometric shapes using bright colors of burnt orange, fuchsia, turquoise blue and seafoam green. Patel, a Pixar Animation Studios animator and storyboard artist, creates a feast for the eyes with elegant, fluid illustrations. His familiar tone, didactic style and quaint prose shape quite a story for the heart. Altogether a nice package from the Oaklander and author/illustrator of The Little Book of Hindu Deities, another homage to his culture and upbringing.

Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry edited by Camille T. Dungy
(The University of Georgia Press, 2009, 387 pp., $24.95)
     Poet Camile T. Dungy, associate professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University, has put together an anthology of nature writing by African-American poets that includes 180 poems
from 93 poets. The collection covers 10 “cycles,” or chapters, from “Just Looking” and “Nature, Be With Us” to “Growing Out of This Land” and “Comes Always Spring.” Poets as diverse as Phillis Wheatley, Natasha Trethway and Gwendolyn Brooks are catalogued here to emphasize, celebrate and recognize the longstanding contributions blacks have made to the genre.

Monday Hearts for Madalene by Page Hodel
(Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009, 111 pp., $16.95)
     San Francisco DJ Page Hodel fell in love with Madalene Louise Rodriguez, who worked in Berkeley as a librarian. Each morning in the wee hours, Hodel would lovingly create an art project of sorts — always a heart — and leave it on her partner’s doorstep for Rodriguez to find. In the seven month of their courtship, Rodriguez was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died soon after. But Hodel continues to create a weekly heart to remember Rodriguez. Her new photography book is a collection of 100 favorite hearts created from “anything beautiful” Hodel can find: carrots, peas and potatoes; paper umbrellas and key tags; hose clamps and daisies. Some book royalties benefit the Women’s Cancer Resource Center in Oakland. You can get a heart every Monday from Hodel via e-mail by visiting mondayheartsformadalene.com.