Review: 'I Am God' explores fatherhood, exile, and mental illness

Kaberi Mitra's debut book, "Jag är Gud," is a tightly composed work that delves into the complexities of fatherhood and the human experience of exile and otherness. The book, a slim 88-page volume of prose poetry, is structured like a chamber play, with each page containing a single paragraph, often just a few lines long. Within these concise passages and the silences between them, Mitra crafts a painful and intricate portrait of a father.

The narrative probes the profound effects of mental illness and societal alienation on an individual and their family. It questions how much of the suffering of the mentally ill stems from external judgment and the feeling of being fundamentally different. The book also examines the impact on a child growing up with an unstable parent, contrasting the experience of a secure upbringing with one marked by constant external scrutiny.

Mitra, born in 1996, is a physician who also attended the Biskops Arnö writing program. Her debut, "Jag är Gud," published in 2025, has been praised for its well-composed structure and the depth of its exploration of these sensitive themes. The reviewer suggests that the book's examination of these universal struggles offers a point of recognition for all readers.