Debjani Chatterjee Explained

Debjani Chatterjee
Birth Date:21 November 1952
Birth Place:Delhi, India
Occupation:poet, writer, editor, translator, creative arts psychotherapist
Nationality:British
Education:BA (High Hons), MA (English and American Literature), MA (Arts Psychotherapy Practice), PGCE (English, Drama & R.E.) and PhD
Alma Mater:American University in Cairo, University of Kent at Canterbury, University of Lancaster, Sheffield Hallam University, Leeds Beckett University
Notableworks:I Was that Woman, Namaskar: New & Selected Poems, The Elephant-headed God and other Hindu tales, The Most Beautiful Child, Redbeck Anthology of British South-Asian Poetry, Who Cares:Reminiscences of Yemeni carers, Barbed Lines, Mango Shake
Spouse:Brian D'Arcy
Awards:MBE, Honorary Doctorate, FRSL

Debjani Chatterjee MBE (born 21 November 1952) is an Indian-born British poet and writer. She lives in Sheffield, England.

Life

Chatterjee was born in Delhi and has lived in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Egypt, and Morocco, before coming to Britain in 1972. She attended seven schools and five universities, receiving a BA from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, MA degrees in English and American Literature from the University of Kent at Canterbury and in Arts Psychotherapy Practice from Leeds Beckett University, and a PhD from Lancaster University, as well as a PGCE and honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University.

After completing her PhD in 1977, Chatterjee worked in the steel industry and in education. From 1984 to 1994 she was Director of Sheffield Racial Equality Council.[1]

Chatterjee has written, translated, or edited more than 75 books, starting with the poetry collection I Was That Woman in 1989. Her books have been translated into several languages, including French, Welsh, Portuguese, Arabic, Bengali, Urdu, and Mandarin. She has won a number of prizes, including the Peterloo Poets Prize, and her book The Elephant-Headed God and Other Hindu Tales was selected for Children's Books of the Year in 1990.

In August 2010, Chatterjee contributed to an eBook collection of political poems entitled Emergency Verse - Poetry in Defence of the Welfare State edited by Alan Morrison.[2]

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours. In 2012, she was an Olympic Torchbearer, carrying the torch from Sheffield to Rotherham.[3]

Debjani Chatterjee was an Associate Editor of the cultural magazine, Pratibha India, in the 1990s and 2000s, published by Sneh Bharti Trust; and of Tadeeb International in the 2000s. she was Reviews Editor of Writing in Education in the 1990s and 2000s, published by the National Association of Writers in Education. From 2016 to 2023 she was on the Advisory Board of Gitanjali and Beyond. In 2023 she became Editor of its creative writing and art section.

In 2023, it was announced by the late writer Roald Dahl's estate and publishers that his works, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, had been "updated." Words and expressions that were deemed "controversial" and possibly "offensive" to "modern audiences" were removed from the original texts or amended in order to become "more suitable." Many writers, publishers, critics, and media commentators expressed their objection to the texts' changes. Debjani Chatterjee disagreed, stating to the BBC that she found it "a very good thing that publishers are reviewing [Dahl]'s work” and that, in her view, the changes were "done quite sensitively."[4] [5] [6] [7]

Selected publications

Poetry collections

Edited poetry

Prose

Bilingual anthologies

Translations

Awards and prizes

OTHER PRIZES, AWARDS & HONOURS

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Paola Marchionni. Alison Donnell. Alison Donnell. Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA72. 2002. Routledge. 978-1-134-70025-7. 72. Chatterjee, Debjani.
  2. http://www.therecusant.org.uk The Recusant eZine
  3. News: Pritchard . Nicholas . London 2012 Olympic torch relay: day 39 – in pictures . 14 August 2023 . The Guardian . 27 June 2012 . Torchbearer Debjani Chatterjee holds up the torch in the Red Room of the MAGNA Science Adventure Centre.
  4. News: Glynn. Paul . Youngs. Ian . 20 February 2023. Roald Dahl: Rishi Sunak joins criticism of changes to author's books . . 1 May 2023.
  5. News: Chong . Joshua . 21 February 2023 . Roald Dahl book revisions spark controversy, as phrases like 'fat' and 'crazy' were removed . . 1 May 2023.
  6. News: Nicholson . Kate. 24 February 2023. All This Roald Dahl Outrage Is Missing One Key Point. . 1 May 2023.
  7. News: Hills. Sophie . 28 February 2023 . Times change. Should classic children's books? . . 1 May 2023.
  8. Web site: Pennine Pens: Animal Antics. www.penninepens.co.uk. 2017-11-17.

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