Kunwar Narayan


Kunwar Narain was a poet in Indian literature, often regarded as the leading poet in Hindi. He read and traveled widely and wrote for six decades. He was linked to the New Poetry movement.

Life

Born on 19 September 1927, in Faizabad district, Uttar Pradesh Kunwar Narayan passed his M.A. examination in English Literature from Lucknow University in 1951. Married to Bharati Goenka in 1966, he had a son Apurva, born in 1967.
Political leaders Narendra Deva and Acharya Kriplani were key literary influences and he gives formative importance to his first visit to Europe, Russia and China in 1955 and meetings with Nazim Hikmet Ran, Anton Słonimskie and Pablo Neruda.
His translations of the French symbolist poets like Mallarmé and Valery, and then of poets like Cavafy and Borges, contributed to his poetic developments. His work covers varied genres—poetry, epic poetry, short stories, literary criticism, translations, essays on world cinema, history and Indian classical music, and articles of versatile cultural and human interest.
He has been translated nationally and internationally, and his honours include the Jnanpith Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, Kabir Samman, Vyasa Samman, Lohia Samman, Shalaka Samman, Warsaw University's honorary medal and Italy's Premio Feronia for distinguished international author.
He died on 15 November 2017 at the age of 90.

Works

Poetry