A Tamil Feminist Poet Writes About Refugee Memories

Posted on February 05, 2026

By Emma Deshpande

Along the highways

of a refugee’s life

snapshots of childhood memories

hang:

Malathi Maithri’s poem “Highway” demonstrates how memories have the power to preserve identities in difficult circumstances, such as living in transit as a refugee. Written in Tamil and translated into English by Lakshmi Holmström, this poem’s accessible language and clear imagery make it a great conversation starter on global migration as well as an introduction to the politics and culture of India’s Tamil Nadu region.

Meet Malathi Maithri

Malathi Maithri’s activism for marginalized groups like the refugees depicted in “Highway” is central to her artistic practice: 

I was naturally inclined towards working against structural forms of oppression, both gender oppression as well as oppression that is caste-and religion-based. Later, this inclination informed my politics as well.

Learn more about how Maithri addresses political and social issues in her work and how she navigates backlash from publishers, politicians, and other writers in an interview with Indian Cultural Forum. Then, show students a look into Maithri’s life from the 2005 documentary, She Write, in Tamil with English subtitles. The documentary includes readings of her poems “Elephant Story” and “A Race of Homes.” 

Tamil Poetic Traditions: Sangam Poetry

The plants and animals that Maithri describes in her poem are characteristic of landscapes in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. After reading the poem, divide the class into four to five small groups and assign each group an image from “Highway,” such as field beans, portia trees, neem trees, water buffaloes, and koel birds. Each group can research their assigned plant or animal, then report on its characteristics to the class. Ask students to consider: What makes each of these plants or animals unique? Why might they stand out in someone’s memory?

You might explain that Maithri’s use of natural imagery and landscapes could be drawing on the significance of nature and the environment in Tamil Sangam poems, which were produced during the Sangam period (roughly 300 BCE to 300 CE). Sangam poetry continues to resonate with readers today; the author of the article linked above describes the form as early “eco poetry.”

Any Tamil speakers in your classroom? More examples of translated Sangam poetry, alongside the original text in Tamil, are available here.

Social Studies Extension: Tamil Language and Sri Lankan Tamils in India

The Tamil language is primarily spoken in the Tamil Nadu region of India and in parts of Sri Lanka. Students interested in learning more about the history of the language can read an overview in Encyclopedia Britannica. Since India gained independence in 1947, Tamil Nadu has been at the forefront of protests against the Hindi language replacing Tamil and other regional Indian languages in official capacities throughout the country, including in school systems.

Tamil identity is also complex within Tamil Nadu, however; Sri Lankan Tamil refugees have lived in India since the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009), and large numbers of them are still considered stateless within India and Sri Lanka. Show students a video interview with Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, many of whom have lived for decades in India, describing their frustration with their lack of citizenship (in Tamil with English subtitles):

Maithri’s poem, where refugees recall a more static childhood as they keep moving “to yet other highways,” might be used to reflect on the experiences of Sri Lankan Tamils, who often faced life-threatening circumstances to travel to India and still hold precarious residency status. Discuss the experiences of Sri Lankan Tamils with students, then ask students how “Highway” could apply to other global migration patterns, such as crossings at the US–Mexican border or asylum seekers in the Mediterranean region. How would the poem change if the refugees were in a different part of the world? How would it stay the same?

Potential Assignment for “Highway” in the English Classroom

After reading the poem and studying the natural images that Maithri uses, have students make a list of memorable aspects (natural features or landmarks) of their cities and towns. Ask: If you wanted to describe your hometown, what would you picture first? Then, ask students to write their own poems using three to four of the memorable features that they brainstormed. Bonus: Alongside their poems, ask students to write out why the images they chose are meaningful to them. Did they include a plant or animal that’s unique to their region, or a location tied to a memory? 

Potential Assignment for “Highway” in the History or Social Studies Classroom

Malathi Maithri was raised in a fishing community in Tamil Nadu. To give students a sense of her upbringing, show them photographs by fisherwomen in Tamil Nadu and Odisha, two coastal states in India. Students can also learn more about this photography project and read reflections by the women who participated in English and in Tamil.

In small groups, ask students to draw connections between these fishing communities, which have had to move due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, and refugee communities who are denied a permanent home. Why might Maithri’s upbringing inspire her to center refugees in her poetry? 

Pairs Well With . . . 

For other works about refugees and the complexities of stateless life on WWB, read:

• “Tell Me Where to Go,” an excerpt from a Korean graphic novel about refugees in a dystopian future
• “A Short Guide to Being the Perfect Political Refugee,” a graphic nonfiction piece about an Iranian writer’s experiences as a refugee in Paris
• “Hunger,” an essay by an Iranian writer about searching for food and shelter as a teenage immigrant in the United States
• “The Gringo Champion,” an excerpt from a novel about a young undocumented man, where he recalls an encounter with immigration agents shortly after crossing the US–Mexican border

Elsewhere:

• “Island 74,” a Chinese poem transcribed from carvings on the walls of Angel Island. “Island 74” depicts the author’s frustrations with detainment and hope for eventual justice.
• “A Friendship, a Pandemic, and a Death Beside the Highway,” a New York Times article about migrant workers in India who had to walk from cities back to their home villages during the COVID-19 lockdown, and Homebound, the 2025 Hindi-language film adaption of the article.
• The Penguin Book of Migration Literature, an anthology of writing across genres depicting global migration and immigration from the eighteenth century to the present.
• Re-Imagining Migration, an organization that provides resources and lesson plans to support students from immigrant backgrounds.