A Song for Saligão, a serenade to her home village by artist and writer Clarice Vaz, is a joy to savour. Through her writing and photographs, we immerse ourselves in the everyday life, pivotal sites, and seasonal festivities of this Goan village. Saligão is neither 'picturesque' nor 'timeless', those adjectives in which rural life is embalmed by those who have never experienced it. Saligão's collective life articulates rich and varied histories of diaspora and return, cultural confluence and visionary civic spiritedness. Vaz knows this way of life is under threat from the machinery of megalopolitan-oriented development and ecological devastation. Her book is animated by her love for Saligão, and her desire to memorialize it for future generations.
-- Ranjit Hoskote, Poet, curator, art critic
For a village which has at least four, maybe five, books already written on it, you would've thought there's nothing more left to be said about Saligão. Clarice Vaz, my neighbour across the fields, proves us wrong. A charming, visually rich story.
-- Frederick Noronha, Journalist, publisher & librarian, Saligão
A Song for Saligão is a pictorial and textual documentation of life in a Goan village. Given that Goa is changing at a faster pace than many of us would like, this book is an important slice of living history. Clarice's voice and passion gives the book an authenticity mixed with a sense of nostalgia. A book for both Goans and lovers of Goa.
-- Diviya Kapur, Owner, Literati Goa
