Description
The poet challenged destiny: ‘I will get you’
A true yogi of unsuccess, he was routed
To wait forever Shivaprakash’s heart was fated
Now that he is a statue, he feels sated
HS Shivaprakash represents the clearest voice of humanity at a time and context when humanity is steeped in incomprehensible levels of growth and conflict. His poetry exemplifies the finest paths available to find solace: empathy, compassion, query, remembrances, community, reflection, wonder… In the Light of Shiva brings together the best of Shivaprakash’s previously published and unpublished poems; further, a few poems translated by Manu Devadevan and Kamalakar Bhat are appended at the end. The volume includes three prose texts that will help the readers better comprehend the contexts of HS Shivaprakash’s poems: a scholarly introduction by eminent literary critic Rajendra Chenni, a detailed interview with him on his views on the craft and a comprehensive analysis of his poems by S Siraj Ahmed.
Shivaprakash is a visionary poet, not in the sense that a religious mind would interpret it, but in the way that poetry captures reality metaphorically to give it a new sense and presence in favour of the human condition, something that seems to be always at the forefront of the poet’s intentions. The gods and heroes of the religious world, the sacred loci of the mental consciousness of each individual or community or humanity as a whole, the travels that take him from one place to the next (a rock garden, the ruins of Tusculum, a balcony of an old house in Rocca Priora, to name just three instances of the poet’s stance to give new sense and purpose to every single situation he presents in each poem) are not just focus of his sensibilities but tropes of his exploration of the culturally vast syncretism that characterises his writing. — Rei Berroa
Shivaprakash has been writing for over four decades now. The recent edition of his collected poems in the original Kannada runs into seven hundred pages. To have written so consistently well, to have broken new ground in the art of poetry, and to have shown new paths for exploration to the younger generation of poets is no small achievement. Just as so many worlds have entered his poetry, let these translations knock lightly on the doors of many languages and enter like long-forgotten friends. — Rajendra Chenni
HS Shivaprakash (b 1954) is a celebrated Kannada poet, playwright, translator, critic, and columnist whose innovations led Kannada literature into an era beyond modernism. His work is known for its spiritual, social, and political engagement. His poems are discussed widely and his plays have been staged all over Karnataka, and the rest of India. He has 12 collections of poems, 13 plays, and five works in Kannada to his credit. He has also edited two books, and has published four collections of translated poems, and three translated plays. His works in English include five collections of poems, two collections of plays, and three prose works. His works have been translated into multiple Indian languages, in addition to English, French, Spanish, and Italian. Shivaprakash received the Sahitya Akademi Award (2012), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1997), the Karnataka Natak Akademi Award, and several best book prizes from the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi for poetry, drama, and translation.
Kamalakar Bhat is Professor and Head of the Postgraduate department of English and Research Centre of Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar, in Maharashtra. He is a bilingual writer and a translator between English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, and Kannada. He has published three collections of poems in Kannada: ‘Churuparu Reshime (Silk Shreds, PUTINA award, 2006), Mugiyada Madhyahna (Endless Noon, 2010), and Jagadajate Matukate (A Chat with the World, 2017). His translation of the works of Marathi poet Namdev Dhasal has been published by Kuvempu Bhashabharati in 2018. Akkapakkada Pataragitti (Neighboring Butterflies), an anthology of poetry translated from ten Indian languages, was published in 2021 by the publication division of Kuvempu University, Shivmoga. Nakali Digilu, a collection of poems by Hemant Divate, translated from Marathi to Kannada, along with HS Shivaprakash, was published in January 2024 by Vinimaya Pustaka. He has edited the lectures and essays of Prof HS Shivaprakash under the title, The Word and the World, which has been published by Manipal Universal Press in 2019 and as an international edition issued by Routledge. He has co-edited an anthology of world poetry titled Sangam published by Sankathana Press, Mandya. He has translated several modern Kannada poets, some of which have appeared in Indian Literature, Muse India, Ceasura, The Bombay Literary Magazine, Indian Cultural Forum, Outlook, Guftagu, The Wheel Wagon, and Prologue. He has also translated short stories and essays from Kannada into English. He has translated poetry from English, Marathi, Hindi, and Urdu into Kannada, some of which have also been published in many Kannada magazines. He has been bestowed with the PUTINA Award 2006 and BH Shridhar Award 2023 for his creative writing. He has been writing regularly in magazines, such as Indian Literature, Muse India, Outlook, The Wire.in, Scroll.in, Kitaab.org, The Bengaluru Review, and Seminar.