Jayanta Mahapatra – The first Indian poet to win Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry

Jayanta Mahapatra is an acclaimed writer and poet belonging to English literature. He has been publishing his poetry works since early 1970s and Close the Sky Ten was his first poetry collection, published in 1971. He has also published and edited a few Oriya books, though he predominantly writes in English. He, along with A. K. Ramanujan and R. Parthasarathy is credited to lay foundation of Indian English poetry. Nissim Ezekiel’s name is also taken along with them as writers of modern era. He was honored with Padma Shri in 2009, which he returned as protest against the rising intolerance in India. He received Sahitya Akademi award for English in 1981 for poetry collection, Relationship, and was the first poet to receive this honour.

Jayanta Mahapatra hails from Orissa and was born in 1928. He has been a Physics professor by profession who worked in many colleges and universities of Odisha. He received SAARC Literary Award in 2010. The Best of Jayanta Mahapatra and Selected poems, A Rain of Rites, Relationship, The False Start, Burden of Waves & Fruit, Dispossessed Nests etc are some of his published poetry collections in English, while The Green Gardener is his English short story collection.

Jayanta Mahapatra – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He started to read and speak in English at the age of 5. He started writing poetry in English after grooming for 38 years.

2. He published a total of 27 books in poetry – 20 in English and 7 in his mother tongue Oriya. Jadiba Gapatie, Baya Raja, Smruti Pari Kichhiti, Chali, Bali, Kahibe Gotiye Katha and Tikie Chhayee are his books in Oriya.

3. One among the members of popular trio of Indian English poetry, he and A. K. Ramanujan were good friends.

4. Apart from an internationally acclaimed writer, he was a Physics professor by profession.

5. He was a recipient of Jacob Glatstein memorial award in poetry in 1975, Kanhaiya Lal Sethia Award for Poetry in 1971 etc.