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Joy Goswami

ジョイ・ゴスワミ

Joy Goswami

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1954-11-10 （Kolkata, West Bengal, India）
Nationality
India
Languages
Bengali, English
Residence History
Kolkata (birth) → Ranaghat (childhood–~30 years) → Kolkata (residence after return)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Novelist, Short story writer, Magazine editor
Active Years
1976-
Affiliations
Desh (magazine), Sangbad Pratidin, International Writing Program, University of Iowa (participant)
Influenced By
Jibanananda Das, Shankha Ghosh

Awards

Anita-Sunil Basu Award (Bangla Akademi, W.B. Govt.)
2017
Organization: Bangla Akademi (West Bengal)
Result: 受賞
Ananda Puraskar
1990
Organization: Ananda
Result: 受賞
Ananda Puraskar
1998
Work: Ghumiyechho, Jhaupata?
Organization: Ananda
Result: 受賞
Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi Award
1997
Work: Bajra Bidyut Bharti Khata (Journal of Thunder and Lightning)
Organization: Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi
Result: 受賞
Sahitya Akademi Award
2000
Work: Pagali Tomar Sange
Organization: Sahitya Akademi
Result: 受賞
Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Lifetime Achievement Award
2011
Organization: Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad
Result: 受賞
Banga Bibhushan
2012
Organization: Government of West Bengal
Result: 受賞
Moortidevi Award
2017
Work: Du Dondo Phowara Matro (No More Than a Spurt of Time)
Organization: Bharatiya Jnanpith
Result: 受賞
D.Litt. (Honorary)
2015
Organization: University of Calcutta
Result: 授与
D.Litt. (Honorary)
2015
Organization: North Bengal University
Result: 授与
D.Litt. (Honorary)
2017
Organization: Kalyani University
Result: 授与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Pagali Tomar Sange

1994 Poetry collection

A poetry collection noted for its lyrical imagery and inventive language; addresses ordinary lives, relationships and the act of writing.

lovememoryfragments of everyday life

Bajra Bidyut Bharti Khata (Journal of Thunder and Lightning)

1995 Poetry collection

A collection incorporating intense imagery and political sensibility; engages with regional events and social anger.

politics and societyangerforces of nature

Ghumiyechho, Jhaupata?

1989 Poetry collection

A poetic collection mixing dark motifs and lyricism, interweaving personal memory with social background.

memorylossrelationships

Malatibala Balika Vidyalaya (Malatibala Girls' School)

Poem

A long monologue poem following a woman's reminiscence of teenage love; explores social prejudice and was later adapted into a popular song.

class prejudiceyoung lovesocial bias
Adaptations
  • [Song] Adaptation of the poem into a popular song (1996)

Bibliography

  • Christmas o Sheeter Sonnetguchchho (1976)
  • Pratnajiv
  • Aleya Hrod (1981)
  • Pagali Tomar Sange (1994)
  • Bajra Bidyut Bharti Khata (1995)
  • Sanjhbatir Rupkathara
  • Galpasamagra (Short stories collection) (2020)

Adaptations

  • Portions of 'Malatibala Balika Vidyalaya' were adapted into a popular song (1996).
  • Appeared reading his poems in the film 'Shob Charitro Kalponik' (2009).

Translations of Works

  • Shanjhbatir Rupkathara = Shanjhbatir's dreams (English edition, 2004)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical and metaphor-richformally experimental (varies across works)semi-abstract imagery with strong lyric appeal
Recurring Motifs
details of everyday lifelove and marital strugglesmemory and lossresponse to political and social events

Legacy

Joy Goswami is regarded as one of the leading Bengali poets of the post-Jibanananda Das era. His linguistically inventive and highly lyrical poetry has earned him wide recognition in Bengal and India, multiple literary awards, and growing attention in translation abroad.

Academic Societies

  • Bangla Akademi (associated)
  • Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad (associated)

Archives

  • Library of Congress (catalogued holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Appeared reading poems in the film 'Shob Charitro Kalponik' (2009)
  • Some poems adapted into songs and frequently referenced

Quotes

  • “There was this simultaneous process of trying to give vent to my thoughts as well as an attitude of trying to hide what I was trying to express. That is what I would call the birth of metaphor.”
    Source: Interview / Poetry International profile

Trivia

  • As a child his poems were read aloud by his brother, which humiliated him and temporarily stopped him from writing.
  • Funded his first poetry collection in 1976 with 145 INR borrowed from his mother.
  • A part of the poem 'Malatibala Balika Vidyalaya' was adapted into a song in 1996.
  • After being laid off from a newspaper in 2019, he received a state-supported appointment through intervention by the chief minister.
  • In 2024 he announced he would stop publishing poems though he would continue to write.