SAARC Literary Award
2 appearances
-
Edition 5 (2009) Winner
Jayanta Mahapatra
ジャヤンタ・マハパトラ
Jayanta Mahapatra
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1928-10-22 （Cuttack, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India）
- Died
- 2023-08-27 （Cuttack, Odisha, India） age 94
- Nationality
- India
- Languages
- English, Odia
- Religion
- Christianity (Odia Christian)
- Residence History
- Cuttack (birthplace and longtime residence) → Patna (studies)
Career
- Occupations
- Indian English poet, Physics teacher
- Active Years
- 1970-2023
- Affiliations
- Ravenshaw University (formerly Ravenshaw College), B.J.B. College, Fakir Mohan University, Gangadhar Meher University
- Influenced By
- A. K. Ramanujan (contemporary Indian English poet), R. Parthasarathy (contemporary Indian English poet)
- Influenced
- subsequent generations of Indian English poets
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stewart School (Cuttack) | — | — | — | — | India |
| Patna University | — | Department of Physics | M.Sc. | — | India |
Stewart School (Cuttack)
Country:
India
Primary/secondary education. Specific years unknown.
Patna University
Department of Physics
Degree:
M.Sc.
Country:
India
Completed M.Sc. in Physics. Exact year unknown.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Sahitya Akademi Award | Relationships | — | Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters) | 受賞 |
| 2009 | Padma Shri | — | — | Government of India | 受賞（2015年に抗議のため返還） |
| 1975 | Jacob Glatstein Memorial Award (Poetry) | — | — | Poetry magazine | 受賞 |
| 2009 | Allen Tate Poetry Prize (The Sewanee Review) | — | — | The Sewanee Review | 受賞 |
| 2009 | SAARC Literary Award | — | — | SAARC | 受賞 |
| — | Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award | — | — | Tata | 受賞（年不明） |
| 2017 | Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry | — | — | Jaipur Literature Festival | 受賞 |
| 2013 | RL Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award | — | — | RL Poetry (organizers) | 受賞 |
| 1970 | International Who's Who in Poetry (Second Prize) | — | — | International Who's Who in Poetry | 第2位 |
Sahitya Akademi Award
1981
Work:
Relationships
Organization:
Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters)
Result:
受賞
Padma Shri
2009
Organization:
Government of India
Result:
受賞（2015年に抗議のため返還）
Jacob Glatstein Memorial Award (Poetry)
1975
Organization:
Poetry magazine
Result:
受賞
Allen Tate Poetry Prize (The Sewanee Review)
2009
Organization:
The Sewanee Review
Result:
受賞
SAARC Literary Award
2009
Organization:
SAARC
Result:
受賞
Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award
Organization:
Tata
Result:
受賞（年不明）
Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry
2017
Organization:
Jaipur Literature Festival
Result:
受賞
RL Poetry Lifetime Achievement Award
2013
Organization:
RL Poetry (organizers)
Result:
受賞
International Who's Who in Poetry (Second Prize)
1970
Organization:
International Who's Who in Poetry
Result:
第2位
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Relationships
1980 Poetry collectionA collection exploring urban and rural life, loneliness, and cultural/personal conflicts; winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award.
lonelinesscultural identityurban-rural contrast
Translations
- No specific translations listed
A Rain of Rites
1976 Poetry collectionAn early major collection that includes the poem "Hunger"; deals frankly with social taboos and personal experience.
social taboossexual exploitationalienation
Collected Poems
2017 Poetry (collected)A compilation of poems spanning his long career; offers an overview of his body of work.
memorysense of placepersonal experience
Bibliography
- Close the Sky Ten by Ten (1971)
- Svayamvara and Other Poems (1971)
- A Father's Hours (1976)
- A Rain of Rites (1976)
- Waiting (1979)
- The False Start (1980)
- Relationship (1980)
- The Green Gardener (short stories, 1997)
- Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs (2006)
- Collected Poems (2017)
- Random Descent (2021)
- NOON: New and Selected Poems (2023)
Translations by Author
- Translations from Odia into English (various)
Translations of Works
- Countermeasures: Poems (1973)
- Wings of the Past: Poems (1976)
- Song of Kubja and Other Poems (1981)
- I Can, But Why Should I Go: Poems (1994)
- Verticals of Life: Poems (1996)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- quiet, introspective voicevivid imagery drawn from everyday life and Indian landscapesconcise, potent symbolism
- Recurring Motifs
- lonelinessmemorysense of placecultural identitythemes of hunger and exploitation (as in "Hunger")
Health
-
Pneumonia (cause of death)2023Suffered pneumonia in 2023 and passed away
-
COVID-19 (reported hospitalized after testing positive)2021Reported hospitalized; limited information on long-term impact.
Legacy
Jayanta Mahapatra was one of the foundational poets of Indian English poetry and the first writer in English to win the Sahitya Akademi Award. His regional yet universal voice influenced later generations, and his work has been the subject of numerous translations and critical studies.
Academic Societies
- Sahitya Akademi (Fellowship)
In Popular Culture
- Included in numerous anthologies of modern Indian English poetry
- Subject of academic studies and monographs (multiple books and special journal issues)
Quotes
-
"In 'Hunger' I was writing from experience."
Source: Statement about the poem (quoted in interviews/analyses)
Trivia
- First writer in English to win the Sahitya Akademi Award.
- Awarded the Padma Shri in 2009 and returned it in 2015 in protest against rising intolerance in India.
- Worked for many years as a physics teacher (including at Ravenshaw University).
- The poem "Hunger" is widely anthologized and regarded as a landmark of modern Indian English poetry.