Nirupama Dutt

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nirupama Dutt is an Indian writer. Noted for a passionate personal style, she writes poems in Punjabi, and sometimes transcreates them in English.

Born in 1955, she is an established presence in the field of Punjabi poetry and short fiction. A senior journalist with thirty years of experience, she has worked with leading Indian newspapers and journals. She has published one volume of poems – Ik Nadi Sanwali Jahi (A Stream Somewhat Dark) – for which she was awarded the Delhi Punjabi Akademi Award in 2000. Her poetry has been translated into English, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali and Urdu and featured in various anthologies. In 2004, she co-edited with Ajeet Cour an anthology of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) poetry entitled Our Voices.

A seasoned translator of poetry and fiction, she has translated and edited a book of fiction by Pakistani women writers called Half the Sky^[1] and one of resistance literature of Pakistan called 'Children of the Night'.

As a journalist, Dutt has established her credentials as a strong secularist, having taken stands against fundamentalism and communalism, on issues ranging from terrorism in Punjab, the November 1984 massacre of the Sikhs, the Babri Masjid demolition and the Gujarat carnage. She believes a similar spirit of courage and commitment permeates her creative writing as well, and views herself as heir to a tradition of fiercely independent female voices in Punjabi letters. “Successor of Manjit (Tiwana), daughter of Amrita (Pritam)” is how she describes herself. Nirupama's poetry has been featured on the Poetry Web International. Amrita was a senior and celebrated poet of Punjabi and Manjit is a poet-friend of Nirupama, senior to her by a few years.

She is convener of a women's study group called Hamshira. At present she is an independent editor, writer and translator. She lives and writes in Chandigarh and Gurgaon.