Jayanta Mahapatra Explained

Jayanta Mahapatra
Birth Date:	22 October 1928
Birth Place:	Cuttack, Bihar and Orissa Province, British India
Death Place:	Cuttack, Odisha, India
Occupation:	Indian English poet, Teacher of Physics
Parents:	Lemuel Mohapatra, Sudhansubala Dash
Notableworks:	Relationship (1980)
Awards:	Sahitya Akademi, Padma Shri
Yearsactive:	1970–2023
Signature:	Signature of Jayanta Mahapatra in Odia.png
Signature Alt:	Signature of Jayanta Mahapatra in Odia

Jayanta Mahapatra (22 October 1928 – 27 August 2023) was an Indian poet.^[1] 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,^{[2] [3]} but he returned the award in 2015 to protest against rising intolerance in India.^[4]

Early life and education

Jayanta Mahapatra was born on 22 October 1928 into a prominent Odia Christian family.^{[5] [6]} 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] His poems have appeared in prestigious poetry anthologies like The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India,^[11] published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada.^[12]

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.^[13]

Death

Jayanta Mahapatra died of pneumonia on 27 August 2023, at the age of 94.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

• Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry – 2017 (Jaipur Literature Festival)^[17]
• 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^[18]
• 1971: Svayamvara and Other Poems, Calcutta: Writers Workshop^[18]
• 1976: A Father's Hours, Delhi: United Writers^[18]
• 1976: A Rain of Rites, Georgia: University of Georgia Press^[18]
• 1979: Waiting, Pune : Samkaleen Prakashan^[18]
• 1980: The False Start, Bombay: Clearing House^[18]
• 1980: Relationship, New York: Greenfield Review Press^[18]
• 2017: Collected Poems, Mumbai: Paperwall Publishing^[19]
• 2021: Random Descent, Ketaki Foundation Trust
• 2022: Re-reading Jayanta Mahapatra: Selected Poems, Black Eagle Books, USA
• 2023: NOON : New and Selected Poems, Ketaki Foundation Trust

Prose

• 1997: The Green Gardener, short stories, Hyderabad: Orient Longman^[18]
• 2006: Door of Paper: Essay and Memoirs, New Delhi: Authorspress^[18]
• 2011: Bhor Moitra Kanaphula (Odia), Bhubaneswar : Paschima Publications^[18]

Poetry in Odia

• 1993: Bali (The Victim), Cutack: Vidyapuri^[18]
• 1995: Kahibi Goṭie Kathā (I'll Tell A Story), Āryya Prakāśana^[18]
• 1997: Baya Raja (The Mad Emperor), Cuttack: Vidyapuri,^[18] Bidyāpurī
• 2004: Tikie Chhayee (A Little Shadow), Cuttack : Vidyapuri^[18]
• 2006: Chali (Walking), Cuttack: Vidyapuri^[18]
• 2008: Jadiba Gapatie (Even If It's A Story), Cuttack: Friends Publishers^[18]
• 2011: Smruti Pari Kichhiti (A Small Memory), Cuttack: Bijayini^[18]

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 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^[20]

Further reading

• 2001: Bijay Kumar Das, The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: 3rd revised and enlarged edition; New Delhi: Atlantic, ^[21]
• 2006: Jaydeep Sarangi and Gauri Shankar Jha (eds), The Indian Imagination of Jayanta Mahapatra, New Delhi: Sarup and Sons, 2006,, a compilation of critical articles.^[22]
• Jaydeep Sarangi, Jayanta Mahapatra Joy of Living and Loving in His Poetry, Aavishkar Publishers' Distributors, 2012, . Printed INR: 600.00, hardcover, 162 pp.
• Zinia Mitra, Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra Imagery and Experiential Identity, Authorspress,2012, Hardcover, INR:500,172pp
• The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Themes & Imagery by Vivekanand Jha, New Delhi: Authorspress,2013 ^[23]
• Shiba Shankar Nath,"The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra:A Study in Imagery", Delhi:Authorspress,2014,.Printed INR: 700.00, hardcover,173 pp.
• Rock Pebbles, Vol. XV No.1, January–June 2011(a special issue on Jayanta Mahapatra)
• 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
• List of Indian poets

External links

• Jayanta Mahapatra's Official Homepage
• Interview with Jayanta Mahapatra – A doyen of Indian-English poetry (The Hindu, 2019)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sahitya Akademi : Who's Who of Indian Writers. Sahitya Akademi. 27 October 2015.
2. Web site: Padma Awards . Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India . 2015 . 21 July 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf . 15 October 2015 .
3. Web site: Jayanta Mahapatra returns Padma Shri protesting 'intolerance'. 23 November 2015.
4. News: Noted poet Jayanta Mahapatra returns Padma Shri – The Times of India. The Times of India. 22 November 2015 . 2015-11-22.
5. Web site: Jayanta Mahapatra. Poem hunter. 16 April 2016.
6. Web site: Jayanta Mahapatra : A profile . orissagateway.com . 9 September 2019 . 20 May 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070520014453/http://www.orissagateway.com/features/Arts_and_Architecture/Art/Literature/Poets/Jayanta_Mohapatra/ . dead .
7. Web site: Muse India – Jayanta Mahapatra's Profile . 2007-10-16 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071026205410/http://www.museindia.com/showauthornew2.asp?id=66 . 26 October 2007 . dmy-all . Web page titled "Jayanta Mahapatra's Profile" at the Muse India Web site, accessed 16 October 2007
8. Web site: 21 March 2017 . Poets who took Indian poetry to next level . 24 January 2022 . Times of India.
9. Web site: Welcome to Muse India . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161107013948/http://www.museindia.com/regularcontent.asp?issid=51&id=4461 . 7 November 2016 . 6 November 2016.
10. Web site: Jayanta Mahapatra – Biography. niralapublications.com . 4 January 2011 . Nirala Publications . 10 May 2022.
11. News: Grove. Richard. The Dance of the Peacock:An Anthology of English Poetry from India. 5 January 2015. current. Hidden Brook Press, Canada. 29 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180929050126/http://hiddenbrookpress.com/Book-Indo-EnglishPoetry.html. dead.
12. Web site: Press. Hidden Brook. Hidden Brook Press. Hidden Brook Press. 5 January 2015.
13. Web site: Jayanta Mahapatra – Something in me refuses to die . livemint.com . 11 January 2013 . 9 September 2019 . 3 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190703092252/https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Tejg57qNEfUBT7jGQV0UbI/Jayanta-Mahapatra--Something-in-me-refuses-to-die.html . dead .
14. https://pragativadi.com/eminent-litterateur-jayanta-mahapatra-passes-away-at-95/ Eminent Litterateur Jayanta Mahapatra Passes Away At 95
15. Web site: Jayanta Mahapatra on Joy of Receiving Awards . firstpost.com . 9 December 2018 . First Post . 9 May 2022.
16. Web site: Poet and Sahitya Akademi Award Winner Jayanta Mahapatra . firstpost.com . 1 June 2021 . First Post . 9 May 2022.
17. Web site: 22 January 2017 . Cuttack poet bags Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry .
18. Bibliography in Land by Jayanta Mahapatra. Authorspress 2013
19. Web site: COLLECTED POEMS – Paperwall. 2021-09-07. en-US.
20. Web site: Ten 20th Century Indian Poets . cse.iitk.ac.in . 23 August 2018.
21. https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no20919.htm Vedam's Books from India website
22. https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no43705.htm Vedam's Books from India website
23. Book: Jha. Vivekanand. The Poetry of Jayanta Mahapatra: Themes and Imagery. Authorspress. New Delhi. 9788172736736. 434. First.