Subodh Sarkar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Subodh Sarkar, [সুবোধ সরকার] a major Bengali poet, writer and editor of India, and a Reader in English literature at City College, Kolkata, was born in 1958 at Krishnanagar. His poetry is incisive, satiric, provocative, manipulative, and most of all, entertainingly contemporary which brings a fresh new idiom to Bengali poetry.


Contents

[edit] Biodata

His first book of poems was published in the late 70s and now he has 26 books to his credit - 20 of poems, 2 of translations and one travelogue on America. His poems have been translated into English, French and several Indian languages and published in prestigious journals and anthologies. He has been invited to participate in poetry readings, seminars, conferences and translation-workshops in U.S.(1992, 2005 & 2006), Taiwan (1996), Germany (2005, 2006), France (2005), Czech Republic (2005) Bangladesh and several parts of India. He has interviewed major international poets including Allen Ginsberg in New York, British poet Sir Stephen Spender, Chilean poet Nicanore Parra and the first black male American Pulitzer prize winner, Yusef Komunyakaa. He has worked with Danniel Weissbort at Iowa and Bhopal, and with Chilean poet Raul Jurita in an audio-cassette project, which highlighted his and Jurita’s poems, the first of its kind in Indo-Latin American history.

He is married to Mallika Sengupta, a noted Bengali poet. He lives in Kolkata.

[edit] External links

[edit] Awards and Honours

  • Shakti Chattopadhyay Binodan Vichitra Puroskar (1997)
  • Bangla Akademi Anita-Sunil Basu Puroskar (2000)

[edit] Editing

Subodh Sarkar is the Editor of Bhashanagar, a Bangla culture magazine with occasional English issues.

[edit] List of Publications- Books of poems:

  • Kabita 78-80, Krishnanagar, 1980
  • Riksha Mesh Katha, Krishnanagar, 1983
  • Eka Narakgami, Kolkata, Prativas, 1988
  • Maronottar Jal, Shatabdir Mukha, Kakdwip, 1990
  • Maruvumir Golap, Amritalok, Medinipur, 1991
  • Chandradosh Oshudhe Sarena, Prativas, Kolkata, 1991
  • Adai Hat Manush, Boipara, Kolkata, 1993
  • Chihh, Kalkata, Ananda Publishers, 1993, ISBN 81-7215-246-9
  • Rajneeti korben Na, Kolkata, Prativas, 1997
  • Dhanyabad Marichika Sen, Kolkata, Katha O Kahini, 1997
  • Sab Rasta Rome-e Jae Na, Patralekha, Kolkata, 2001
  • Bhalo Jaygata Kothae, Kolkata, Ananda Publishers, 2001,ISBN 81-7215-916-1
  • Jerujalem Theke Medinipur, Srishti, Kolkata, 2001
  • Kallu, Kolkata, Ananda Publishers, 2003
  • Krittikae Sonnet Cangaroo, Saptarshi Prakashan, Kolkata, 2003
  • Shrestha Kabita, Kolkata, Deys Publication, 2004
  • Ami Karo Andhakar Noi, Kolkata, Prativas, 2004
  • Manipurer Ma, Kolkata, Ananda Publishers, 2005, ISBN 81-7756-485-4
  • Boma Bananor Class, Saptarshi Prakashan, Kolkata, 2006
  • Ja Upanishad Tai Koran, Ananda Publishers, 2006
  • Pratibader Kabita, Deep Prakashan, Kolkata, 2007

Book of poems in English translation:

  • Route Map 25, Bhashanagar, Kolkata.2004

Book of Translation:

  • Biswa Kabita, Prativas, Kolkata, 199

Travelogue:

  • Deshta America, Vostok, Kolkata, 1993

Books co-authored with Mallika Sengupta:

  • Sohag Sharbari, Abhiman, Howrah, 1985
  • Prem O Pratibader Kabita, Kolkata, Vikash Grantha Bhavan, 2001
  • Subodh Mallika Square, Kolkata, Vikash Grantha Bhavan, 2006

[edit] A sample poem by Subodh Sarkar

Where's the Good Place

When he got up from his nap, my three-year-old son said:

Papa, will you take me to a good place?

Surprised, I looked at the three year old ---

at three-year-old eyes, three-year-old lips,

at trickling drops of sweat.

I said: Go and get the zoo.

The lion's gotten very hungry, the tiger's chased the deer.

He said: No, take me to a good place.


He went to the next room, cried a bit,

Came back with a tattered Karl Marx calendar, and said:

We'll take this grandpa too, by train, by boat.

Hey, Papa, Papa, won't we go to a good place?


When I took him to Victoria, he said: No, this is no good.

When I took him to the Ganges, he said, It's only a river.

When I gave him ice cream, he walked along whining.

Disgusted, I took him home around eight and saw

tattered Karl Marx lying abandoned on the floor.

I told my son: Listen, this grandpa said

He would take us to a good place too.

That Sunday, there was no train, no boat.


Quiet for a moment, thinking who knows what,

he began whining again.

I gave him a ball, I gave him a robot, I gave him a ship.

Right when I was wondering whether to give him a spanking,

He asked all-time big question:

Hey, Papa, tomorrow, will you take me to a good place tomorrow?


Translated By Carolyn Brown, Sanjukta Dasgupta and Ashesh K. Chatterjee

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../s/u/b/Subodh_Sarkar_568c.html"