Jayanta Mahapatra

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Indian English poet (born 1928)

Jayanta Mahapatra (born 22 October 1928) is an Indian English poet. He is the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. He is the author of poems such as Indian Summer and Hunger, which are regarded as cl*ics in modern Indian English literature. He was awarded a Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India in 2009. He returned the award in 2015 to protest against rising intolerance in India.

1 Indian Poets Trio
2 Early life and education
3 Literary works
4 Awards, recognition and legacy
5 Interview
6 Poetry readings
7 Books by Jayanta Mahapatra
8 Awards
9 Appearances in the following poetry Anthologies
10 Further reading
11 See also
12 Notes
13 External links

Indian Poets Trio

Mahapatra was part of a trio of poets who laid the foundations of Indian English Poetry, which included A. K. Ramanujan and R. Parthasarathy. He differed from others in not being a product of Bombay school of poets. Over time, he has managed to carve a quiet, tranquil poetic voice of his own, different from those of his contemporaries.

Early life and education

Born into a prominent Odia Christian family, Mahapatra went to Stewart School in Cuttack, Odisha. He completed his M. Sc. in Physics from Patna University, Bihar. He began his teaching career as a lecturer in physics in 1949 and taught at various government colleges in Odisha including Gangadhar Meher College, Sambalpur, B.J.B College, Bhubaneswar, Fakir Mohan College, Balasore and Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. He superannuated at the Ravenshaw College, Cuttack (now Ravenshaw University) and retired from his government job as the Reader in Physics in 1986. He began his writing career in the late sixties. His short stories and poems were initially rejected by several publishers, until his poems were published in international literary journals. He was invited to participate in the International Writing Program at Iowa, which brought him international exposure.

Literary works

Mahapatra has aut*d 27 books of poems, of which seven are in Odia and the rest in English. His poetry volumes include Relationship, Bare Face and Shadow Space. Besides poetry, he has experimented widely with myriad forms of prose. His published books of prose include Green Gardener, an anthology of short stories and Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs. Mahapatra is also a distinguished editor and has been bringing out the literary magazine, Chandrabhaga. His poems have appeared in prestigious poetry anthologies like The Dance of the Pea*: An Anthology of English Poetry from India, published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada.

Mahapatra has also translated from Odia into English, and some of his translations are published in the bi-monthly literary magazine Indian Literature. Some anthologies of his translations have also been published.

Awards, recognition and legacy

In 1981 Jayanta Mahapatra Mahapatra won a Sahitya Akademi award for his book "Relationships". He is also a recipient of the Jacob Glatstein memorial award conferred by Poetry magazine, Chicago. He was also awarded the Allen Tate Poetry Prize for 2009 from The Sewanee Review. He received the SAARC Literary Award, New Delhi, 2009. He has also received Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award. He was conferred with a Padma Shri in 2009 and awarded an honorary doctorate by Ravenshaw University on 2 May 2009. He was also awarded a D. Lit. degree by Utkal University, Odisha in 2006. In May 2019 he became the first ever Indian English poet to become a Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi.

Interview

“The Hindu: Jayanta Mahapatra - A doyen of Indian-English poetry”

Poetry readings

Outside India

University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1976
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, 1976
University of the South, Sewanee, 1976
East West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1976
Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide, 1978
P.E.N. Centre, Sydney, 1978
Australian National University, Canberra, 1978
International Poets Conference, Tokyo, 1980
Asian Poets Conference, Tokyo, 1984

Books by Jayanta Mahapatra

Poetry

1971: Close the Sky Ten by Ten, Calcutta: Dialogue Publications
1971: Svayamvara and Other Poems, Calcutta: Writers Workshop
1976: A Father's Hours, Delhi: United Writers
1976: A Rain of Rites, Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press
1979: Waiting, Samkaleen Prakashan
1980: The False Start, Bombay: Clearing House
1980: Relationship, Greenfield, New York: Greenfield Review Press
2017: Collected Poems, Mumbai: Paperwall Publishing

Prose

1997: The Green Gardener, short stories, Hyderabad: Orient Longman
2006: Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs, New Delhi: Authorspress
2011: Bhor Moitra Kanaphula. In Oriya. Bhubaneswar, Paschima

Poetry in Odia

1993: Bali (The Victim), Cutack: Vidyapuri
1995: Kahibe Gotiye Katha (I'll Tell A Story), Arya Prakashan
1997: Baya Raja(The Mad Emperor), Cuttack: Vidyapuri
2004: Tikie Chhayee (A Little Shadow), Cuttack; Vidyapuri
2006: Chali (Walking), Cuttack: Vidyapuri
2008: Jadiba Gapatie (Even If It's A Story), Cuttack: Friends Publishers
2011: Smruti Pari Kichhiti (A Small Memory), Cuttack: Bijayini

Translations into English

1973: Countermeasures: Poems, Calcutta. Dialogue
1976: Wings of the Past: Poems, Calcutta. Rajasree
1981: Song of Kubja and Other Poems, New Delhi. Samkaleen
1994: I Can, But Why Should I Go: Poems, New Delhi. Sahitya Akademi
1996: Verticals of Life: Poems, New Delhi. Sahitya Akademi
1998: Tapaswini: a Poem, Bhubaneswar. Odisha Sahitya Akademi
2001: Discovery and other Poems, Kolkata. Writers Workshop
2003: A Time of Rising (Poems), New Delhi. Har-Anand

Awards

Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry - 2017 (Jaipur Literature Festival)
RL Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award for Poetry, 2013, Hyderabad.
Second Prize – International Who's Who in Poetry, London, 1970.
Jacob Glatstein Memorial Award – Poetry, Chicago, 1975.
Visiting Writer – International Writing Program, Iowa City 1976–77.
Cultural Award Visitor, Australia, 1978.
*an Foundation – Visitor's Award, *an, 1980.

Appearances in the following poetry Anthologies

A New Book of Indian Poems In English (2000) ed. by Gopi Kottoor and published by Poetry Chain and Writers Workshop, Calcutta
Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets (1976) ed. by R. Parthasarathy and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi

Notes

External links

Jayanta Mahapatra's Official Homepage

*birth place Odisha