Mmhonlumo Kikon is an Aspen Fellow and the author of two poetry collections: The Penmi Poems (2018) and The Village Empire (2019). He grew up in Kohima and has been writing for journals and newspapers since his college days. After completing his masters in English literature from Delhi University, he pursued development studies with various organizations and also got actively associated with social service and community welfare. He is currently an MLA in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. An ardent footballer, he played for his college team and regularly promotes the sport in his home state. He lives in Kohima with his wife, two daughters and a son.
<p><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Mmhonlumo Kikon’s poems isolate and examine the unchanging nature of space and time, the past and the present, the here and now. He takes a penetrating look at the banalities of daily life that actually shape and define the contours of identity, both within communities and outside.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Kikon’s poems identify the constructs of the modern world that seek to replace the indigenous. He explores the process of self-preservation employed by tribes against the onslaught of material and ideational forces. From the habits of culture to the distinct quandary that communities have to face; from the struggle to come to terms with the evolving world to the rush to educate the so-called ‘savage’; and from abandoning the ruins of colonialism to taking a measured approach to change, this collection is an intimate and brave review of lives lived in the wide expanse of nature and their interactions with the outside world.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This is a searing portrayal of the innate and native desire to revive a cultural ethos that has been drowning in a vortex of complex and systemic institutions.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"></p>
