New Delhi: HarperCollins India has published ‘The Book of Bihari Literature‘, edited by poet-diplomat Abhay K. The book presents a glimpse of the richness of Bihari literature in English translation from 10 languages of Bihar such as Sanskrit, Pali, Magahi, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Angika, Bajjika, Farsi, and Urdu. Most of the poems and stories from these languages have been translated for the first time, making them accessible to readers across the world.
The book includes the works of poets and writers from as early as 600 BCE to contemporary times. It features the works of Sumangalmata, Kautilya, Vatsyayna, Sarhapa, Vidyapati, Abdul-Qādir Bēdil, Deen Mahomed, Mahendar Misir, Bhikhari Thakur, Raghuveer Narayan, Heera Dom, Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Rambriksh Benipuri, Bedil Azimabadi, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Nagarjun, Phanishwar Nath Renu, Surendra Mohan Prasad, Rameshwar Singh Kashyap, Mathura Prasad Naveen, Surendra Prasad Tarun, Rajkamal Chaudhary, Kalam Haidari, Lalit, Ravindra Kumar, R. Ishari Arshad, Harishchandra Priyadarshi, Pandey Surendra, Mithilesh, Chandramohan Pradhan, Mridula Sinha, Shamoil Ahmad, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Usha Kiran Khan, Alok Dhanwa, Hussain Ul Haque, Shaiwal, Aniruddha Prasad Vimal, Abdus Samad, Prem Kumar Mani, Ashok, Nagendra Sharma Bandhu, Arun Kamal, Narayanji, Avdhesh Preet, Vibha Rani, Anamika, Savita Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Amitava Kumar, Dhananjay Shrotriya, Arun Harliwal, Tabish Khair, Kumar Mukul, Ratneshwar, Kiran Kumari Sharma, Kavita, Pankhuri Sinha and Abhay K.
Translators include Pandita Vairocanaraksita, Mangal Murty, Ram Bhagwan Singh, N.C. Sinha, Nalini Taneja, Dr Syed Sarawar Hussain, Manisha Chaudhry, Dr Rakhshanda Jalil, Vidyanand Jha, Huma Mirza, Asif Jalal, Jay Ram Singh, Vivek Perampuria, Chaitali Pandya, Abhay K., Dr Bindu Singh, Gautam Choubey, Medha Singh, Abhay Kumar, Anupama Garg and Nasim Fekrat.
Speaking about the book Abhay K. said that ‘The Book of Bihari Literature‘ is a homage to Bihar, his birthplace, and the creative and industrious spirit of its people over the centuries.
Prema Govindan, a Senior Commissioning Editor at HarperCollins India, had said in a statement on Bihar Day, ‘With this book, we hope to introduce our readers to the diversity of thought and brilliance of writing Bihar has offered to us over millennia.”
Well-known writer Shobhaa De tweeted- “I loved every single story! Such an important book.”
Writers such as Namita Gokhale, Pritish Nandy, Jenny Bhatt, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, Jayashree Kalathil and S. Kalyan Raman have praised the book.
– global bihari bureau
