Port of Being is my first book of poems. It draws from surveillance maps, field recordings, overheard conversations, and the performance art of Vito Acconci to reclaim my experiences of being stalked. I approach my experiences at a slant through an engagement with listening, walking the city, ports, and history to explore how intimacy and social relations are shaped by tech. Port of Being is also about friendship, migration, addiction, and family.

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A best Canadian poetry book of 2018 —CBC Books

“It is through listening that the speaker of Port of Being is able to ground herself, even in moments of significant duress, and slowly collect details and sensory stimulation that attach us to our environment. Rather than position listening as an act of submission — as though sound is what overwhelms our sense of self in the world — this approach to listening is a step toward world-building, toward compassionate attention to the self as it coexists with others.” —Eric Schmaltz, Jacket 2

“A delightful voice emerges in the sprawl of systems throughout the poems, a sharp-eyed consciousness that builds momentary, shifting counter-environments through humour and wit, insight and attention.”—Gregory Betts, Canadian Literature

“Whether turned inward or outward, these poems convey a tense, compelling vigilance.”—Deborah Dundas, Toronto Star

“Ramji is that rare emergent writer who can pen a poignant poem with the line “dick pix from LA” and genuinely crack wise about Deleuze.”—Jesse Eckerlin, Quill and Quire

“One might think she writes for the same reason as Dany Laferrière’s narrator, “Dany,” in the novel Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex?, offered for writing his own first novel: I wrote this book to save my life.”—rob mclennan

“In charting the navigation from being passively observed to becoming an empowered observer, with captivating rhythms and energized juxtapositions, through a process of triangulating our culture and self, formal invention, captivating images, and an intriguing and wide range of subjects and reference, Ramji has created an insightful, thoughtful, engaging and inspiring guide to being in the digital age.”—Gary Barwin, Hamilton Review of Books