And I Blamed Canadian Winter Again Poems : East & West by Arun Budhathoki

Description

In And I Blamed Canadian Winter Again: Poems East & West, Nepalese-Canadian poet Arun Budhathoki reflects on his journey between the snow-laden landscapes of New Brunswick and the towering Himalayas of his childhood. Navigating the complexities of identity, migration, and belonging, he captures the solitude of winter, the warmth of nostalgia, and the emotional crossroads of life in a foreign land.

With a voice that bridges cultures, Arun paints vivid portraits of Fredericton’s riverbanks, the echoes of his Himalayan upbringing, and the quiet struggles of adaptation. His poetry, rich in imagery and raw emotion, moves fluidly between past and present, charting the resilience of an immigrant soul.

After a decade-long hiatus from publishing poetry, Arun returns to his first love—verse. Through this collection, he shares deeply personal reflections on art, survival, and the poetic journey, shaped by years of self-doubt, inspiration, and cosmic intervention.

This book, supported by the arts community of New Brunswick and encouraged by his mentor Yuyutsu RD Sharma, is not just a return to poetry—it is a testament to the enduring power of words to illuminate, comfort, and transcend borders.

“And I Blamed Canadian Winter Again: Poems East & West, extends Arun’s poetic journey across borders, weaving together the complexities of belonging and displacement in a shifting world.”
—Yuyutsu Sharma, Himalayan Poet, author, Annapurna Poems

“And I Blamed Canadian Winter Again by Arun Budhathoki is an intriguingly captivating fusion of dialogic revelations that explore the inner lives of migrants, alongside surreal, imagistic meditations on a dreamlike journey through geographies marked by both brutality and beauty—simultaneously haunting and healing. Open your eyes—”there is rain dancing in madness.”
— Ashwani Kumar, Indian poet, professor, and author of Map of Memories

“Buthathoki’s lines are short, blunt, attacking, spouted softly and meaningfully at the reader. Strong, stringent and meaningful”
—Timothy Gager, American poet and fiction writer, author of Almost Bluing for X-Tra Whiteness

“A genuine poet is essentially a loner. It is not his/her weakness but a prerequisite. And Arun Budhathoki fulfils that prerequisite quite brilliantly. Here is a poet continuously walking on the edges of life’s experiences with remarkable tenacity, and creative hope, even though he seems to be an eternal stranger like a restless migratory bird. The collection offers an insightful read with an overarching pang of belongingness.”
—Kumar Vikram, Co-author T. S Eliot: An Intensive Study of Selected Poems and author Men’s Lib and Other Literary, Cultural and Personal Essays

Arun’s rhythmic verse saturated and infatuated me with places tucked between worlds. His book of poetry was a teaching of honoring notice.
— Kristena Prater, American writer, author of Tessa Eyes On The World

Arun Budhathoki is a poet and writer originally from Nepal, now residing in Canada. His work has appeared in numerous international literary journals, earning recognition for its poignant exploration of migration, identity, and cultural dissonance. His poetry collection Prisoner of an iPad: New Poems (Nirala, 2014) received critical acclaim, solidifying his voice in contemporary South Asian poetry. A guest author at the Sharjah International Literary Festival in 2015, Arun has continued to engage with global literary communities. He has translated Nepalese novelist B.N. Joshi’s book into English, entitled Shramatan: A Nepalese Migrant Worker’s Memoir. His work has appeared in several newspapers and journals, including Vice, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Pratik, Asia Times, and Nikkei Asian Review, among others.