Sri Aurobindo

Letters on Poetry and Art

SABCL - Volume 27

Part 2. On His Own and Others’ Poetry
Section 3. Practical Guidance for Aspiring Writers
Guidance in Writing Poetry

Prefaces and Reviews

Is it good to have a preface, introduction or bhūmikā to one’s book? I would prefer any appreciation to be published separately as a review or criticism.

It is not a question of principle but of feeling and circumstances. One can do either way. To do without anything of the kind (which seems like a recommendation or advertisement) seems the finer way — letting one’s creation stand on its own merits. But the other is the fashion nowadays and I suppose there is something to be said for it.

28 October 1935