- Source: Jayanta Mahapatra
Jayanta Mahapatra (22 October 1928 – 27 August 2023) was an Indian poet. He is the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. He was the author of poems such as "Indian Summer" and "Hunger", which are regarded as classics in modern Indian English literature. He was awarded a Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India in 2009, but he returned the award in 2015 to protest against rising intolerance in India.
Early life and education
Jayanta Mahapatra was born on 22 October 1928 into a prominent Odia Christian family. He attended 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 University, B.J.B College, Fakir Mohan University and Ravenshaw University. He superannuated at Ravenshaw University (then Ravenshaw College) and retired from his government job as the Reader in Physics in 1986.
Mahapatra 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.
Writing
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 the others in not being a product of Bombay school of poets. Over time, he managed to carve a quiet, tranquil poetic voice of his own, different from those of his contemporaries.
Mahapatra authored 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 was also a distinguished editor and was involved in the production of the literary magazine Chandrabhaga. His poems have appeared in prestigious poetry anthologies like The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India, published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada.
Mahapatra also translated from Odia into English, and some of his translations were published in the bi-monthly literary magazine Indian Literature. Some anthologies of his translations have also been published.
Themes and style
Mahapatra frequently explores themes of cultural struggle, identity exploration, and displacement in his poetry. His writing captures the intricacies of current Indian society as well as the difficulties in balancing traditional ideals with changing circumstances. His utilization of imagery from ordinary life and Indian landscapes, coupled with a thoughtful and introspective voice, define his approach.
Death
Jayanta Mahapatra died of pneumonia on 27 August 2023, at the age of 94.
Awards, recognition and legacy
In 1981 Jayanta Mahapatra won Sahitya Akademi award for his poetry book Relationships. He became the first ever writer in English language to win Sahitya Akademi award. 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.
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.
Japan Foundation – Visitor's Award, Japan, 1980.
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, Georgia: University of Georgia Press (ISBN 9780820303970, OL 5212793M)
1979: Waiting, Pune : Samkaleen Prakashan
1980: The False Start, Bombay: Clearing House
1980: Relationship, New York: Greenfield Review Press
2017: Collected Poems, Mumbai: Paperwall Publishing
2021: Random Descent, Ketaki Foundation Trust (ASIN B094ZZF9DG, OL 22844719M)
2022: Re-reading Jayanta Mahapatra: Selected Poems, Black Eagle Books, USA (ISBN 9781645602002)
2023: NOON : New and Selected Poems, Ketaki Foundation Trust (ASIN B0C3Y76BHL)
= Prose
=1997: The Green Gardener, short stories, Hyderabad: Orient Longman (OL 331803M)
2006: Door of Paper: Essay and Memoires, New Delhi: Authorspress (ISBN 9788172733742, OL 16279020M)
2011: Bhor Moitra Kanaphula (Odia), Bhubaneswar : Paschima Publications (OL 24840744M)
= Poetry in Odia
=1993: Bali (The Victim), Cutack: Vidyapuri
1995: Kahibi Goṭie Kathā (I'll Tell A Story), Āryya Prakāśana (OL 638161M)
1997: Baya Raja (The Mad Emperor), Cuttack: Vidyapuri, Bidyāpurī (OL 505046M)
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 (OCLC 42716375)
2001: Discovery and other Poems, Kolkata : Writers Workshop
2003: A Time of Rising (Poems), New Delhi : Har-Anand Publishers
= Inclusions in 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
Further reading
2001: Bijay Kumar Das, The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: 3rd revised and enlarged edition; New Delhi: Atlantic, ISBN 81-7156-968-4
2006: Jaydeep Sarangi and Gauri Shankar Jha (eds), The Indian Imagination of Jayanta Mahapatra, New Delhi: Sarup and Sons, 2006, ISBN 81-7625-622-6, a compilation of critical articles.
Jaydeep Sarangi, Jayanta Mahapatra Joy of Living and Loving in His Poetry, Aavishkar Publishers' Distributors, 2012, ISBN 8179103749. Printed INR: 600.00, hardcover, 162 pp.
Zinia Mitra, Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra Imagery and Experiential Identity, Authorspress,2012,ISBN 978-81-7273-655-2 Hardcover, INR:500,172pp
The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Themes & Imagery by Vivekanand Jha, New Delhi: Authorspress,2013 ISBN 978-8172736736
Shiba Shankar Nath,"The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra:A Study in Imagery", Delhi:Authorspress,2014,ISBN 978-81-7273-897-6.Printed INR: 700.00, hardcover,173 pp.
Rock Pebbles, Vol. XV No.1, January–June 2011(a special issue on Jayanta Mahapatra) ISSN 0975-0509
2018: Jayanta Mahapatra: A Reader, Ed. Durga Prasad Panda, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 978-93-87567-66-5
See also
Biodata of Jayanta Mahapatra Archived 20 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
List of Indian poets
Indian English Literature
Sahitya Akademi Award
Notes
External links
Jayanta Mahapatra's Official Homepage
Interview with Jayanta Mahapatra – A doyen of Indian-English poetry (The Hindu, 2019)
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Sitakant Mahapatra
- Sachidananda Routray
- Raghunath Mohapatra
- Pratibha Ray
- Kelucharan Mohapatra
- Mahasweta Devi
- Perfilman Odisha
- Benode Behari Mukherjee
- Jayanta Mahapatra
- Indian poetry in English
- SAARC Literary Award
- Hunger (poem)
- Indian Summer (poem)
- Kelucharan Mohapatra
- Mohapatra
- Indian English literature
- Haldhar Nag
- Surender Sharma
