Prabal Kumar Basu (Bengali: প্রবালকুমার বসু) is an Indian poet, essayist and editor. He writes in his mother tongue Bengali.

Prabal Kumar Basu
Prabal Kumar Basu in Kolkata.
Born (1960-09-21) 21 September 1960 (age 64)
Kolkata, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationPoet

Early life

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Prabal Kumar Basu was born on 21 September 1960, in Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) to Debkumar Basu[1] and Chhanda Basu. Debkumar Basu was quite well known and active in the Bengali cultural sphere and most of his friends and acquaintances were prominent writers, poets, artists and others. Young Prabal grew up in an environment where the arts featured prominently as a part of daily life. The seeds of his literary aspirations were sowed at an early age.[citation needed]

The poet Shakti Chattopadhyay[2] was a huge influence on Prabal. Travelling with the senior poet through rural West Bengal gave Prabal a ring-side view of man and nature intersect, a view which shaped his early works. His close association with nature increased manifold while he was studying engineering at Jalpaiguri which was close to the Dooars forest.[citation needed]

After poet Shakti Chattopadhayay's death Prabal came in close proximity with another literary stalwart Sunil Gangopadhyay who introduced Prabal to world literature and modernism. Both these ideals greatly influenced and shaped Prabal's later works.[citation needed]

Literary career & contributions

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Prabal started writing poetry from his college days and his first poetry book Tumi i Pratham[3] was published immediately after he graduated. This brought him critical acclaim and he was awarded Gaurishankar Bhattacharjee Memorial Award.[4] He also dabbled in theatre in college, especially verse dramas, and in 1981, he formed a cultural organization named Adhunik Sanskritik Parishad, which used to stage ballet forms of poems.

In 2002, Prabal edited Signposts: 50 years of Bengali Poetry since Independence.[5] Since then, the book has become one of the most well-read and talked about books on Bengali poetry in English. In 2003 Prabal was instrumental in setting up the Kolkata International Foundation for Art, Literature and Culture,[6] along with famous artists, theatre personalities, poets and others, with the objective was to set up a multi-cultural centre in Kolkata.

Prabal received much fame and accolades, along with the West Bengal Bangla Akademy Puraskar,[7] for his poetry book Jamon Kore Gaichhe Akash in 2005. In this same year he was invited to the Third International Poetry Festival in Wellington, New Zealand.[8][9] The festival was a confluence of poets from across the globe and Prabal developed a connection with other International poets. This greatly helped him acquire an international diction and world viewpoint which is evident in his later works. A crowning achievement was the Writers and Artists In-Residency Programme 2017[10]' where he was the invited guest of the then President of India, Dr. Pranab Mukherjee. He stayed at the Rashtrapati Bhawan for two weeks and had multiple cultural exchanges with the President himself.

Yapanchitra—a platform for young poets

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It was in 2002, when Yapanchitra, a little magazine for literature, art and culture was published (editor: Barnali Roy), Prabal became its mentor. He was not merely a contributor but was responsible for the magazine's creative ideas and execution processes. In 2006, Prabal edited the international poetry volume for Yapanchitra. Later when Yapanchitra Foundation was established as a platform for young poets Prabal became the editor of Yapanchitra [11] in the year 2017.

Literary works

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Following are the list of Prabalkumar Basu's[12] literary works in different fields of literature:

Poetry collections

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  • Tumi i Pratham (1983)
  • Byaktigata Smritistambher Pashe (1987)
  • Sthayee Abaas O sthayee Thikana (1989)
  • Janmobeej (1993)
  • Yapanchitra (1994)
  • Isworer Mukh (1998)
  • Jemon Kore Gaichhe Akaash (2002)
  • Manobanchha Ek Bindu Jol (2004)
  • KothaTheke Shuru Karbo (2006)
  • Shreshtho Kabita (2007)
  • Aapnakei Thik Karte Hobe Gantyabyo (2008)
  • Adharma Katha (2009)
  • Bhalo Bolte Shikhun (2011)
  • Premer Kabita (2012)
  • Nirbachito Duratwo Mene (2013)
  • Ei Je Ami Chalechi (2015)
  • Aami To Boltei Partam (2017)
  • Nirbachito Kabita (2017)
  • Bhebechi Emni bhabei Hoy (2018)
  • Balite Joler Dag (2019)

Works translated in English

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Poetry

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  • Of Lonely Rocks and Upright Trees (2006)
  • All About Umbrellas (2008)
  • As I Wander Along (2018)

Short stories

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  • Paradox of Truth (2013)

Short story collections (Bengali)

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  • Moha Bhoj (1993)
  • Aamar Somoy Aamar Galpo (2008)
  • Galpoi Galpo (2011)

Verse drama collections (Bengali)

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  • Chakrabyuha O Anyanyo Kabyanatya (2005)
  • Kabyanatya Sangraha (2013)

Collection of essays

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  • Andho Jato Hoy Tato Dekhe (2007)
  • Mor Bhabanare (2018)
  • Tarun Kabir Kabyobhasha (2018)
  • Chalte Chalte Rashtrapati Bhabana (2018)
  • Kichhu Dekha Kichhu Katha (2019)
  • Antoraaler Golpokatha (2019)

Edited books

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  • Signposts: Bengali Poetry since Independence  
  • Anyo Aalo: Selection of essays by eminent authors, published in Yapanchitra magazine (2015)

Awards and recognition

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  • Gaurishankar Bhattacharjee Memorial Award (1984)[3]
  • State Academy Award for Poetry (2005)[13][14]
  • Invitee at the 3rd Wellington International Poetry Festival in New Zealand (2005)[8][9]
  • Invitee at the 4th World Haiku Conference in Tokyo (2007)[15][16]
  • Invited by President of India, to President House, India, for fifteen days to join "Writers & Artists In-Residence" Program (2017)[10]

References

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  1. ^ "The news from 'International PEN' and it's [sic] Centers around the globe: In loving memory of DebKumar basu". penwestbengal.blogspot.com. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  2. ^ বসু, প্রবালকুমার. "শক্তিকুমার বলে ডাকতেন". anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Shri Pranab Mukherjee: Former President of India". pranabmukherjee.nic.in. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Signpost of Bengali poetry". The Times of India. 16 January 2002. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Book Review – Among Erring Humans". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  6. ^ "26 paintings auctioned at Christie's". Hindustan Times. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. ^ "KAURAB Online :: A Bengali Poetry Webzine :: Translation Site". kaurab.tripod.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Third Wellington International Poetry Festival". www.scoop.co.nz. 3 October 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Catalyst". catalystnz.blogspot.com. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Ashokkumar Chavda, Prabal Basu part of in-residence programme". India Today. Press Trust of India. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Prabal Kumar Basu - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  12. ^ Ravi, S. (17 April 2017). "Promoting Indian literature". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Shri Prabal Kumar Basu" (PDF). Archived from the original on 17 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Prabal Kumar Basu - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  15. ^ "The WHAC4 Album". www.worldhaiku.net. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  16. ^ "World Haiku". www.worldhaiku.net. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2020.