Abhi Subedi ( ne, अभि सुवेदी) is a Nepali

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingui ...

, columnist, translator and critic, who writes in

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

and English.

Biography

Abhi Subedi was born in Sabla village of Tehrathum district in eastern Nepal. He was the 21st child of his father and the 7th child of his mother. He recognized Bengali letters before Devnagari scripts after seeing his mother read Bengali epic Kashiram Das's

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

Education

Abhi Subedi was offered a British Council scholarship to the University of Edinburgh in 1978 and completed his post-graduate degree. He wrote about his struggle for education viz a viz the Thatcher government's cut on foreign scholarships and grants and the bureaucratic malice of his university back home. He earned a Ph.D on the pragmatics of poetry from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur and did postgraduate work in

stylistics Stylistics, a branch of applied linguistics, is the study and interpretation of texts of all types and/or spoken language in regard to their linguistic and tonal style, where style is the particular variety of language used by different individu ...

and applied linguistics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

Career

Subedi started as a teacher of English at Tribhuvan University and after returning from Europe taught stylistics there. He taught for 40years at the Central Department of English in Tribhuvan University, and headed the department for more than a decade. Subedi is vice-President of the Nepali Folklore Society of Nepal. He is the founding former President of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) UNESCO from 2000 to 2008 and member of International Playwright's Forum from 2000 to 2011. Subedi became President (1990-1992) and two times General Secretary of the Linguistic Society of Nepal. He was also President of the Literary Association of Nepal. He is a member of the International Association of Theatre Critics. He has been involved in a number of interdisciplinary study groups and is a prolific writer on issues of freedom, culture, literature, arts and social transformation. His essays and seminar papers have been published in Nepal and abroad.

Works

Subedi has published over two dozen books on different subjects. Several of his plays have been performed by well-known theatre groups in Nepal and abroad.

Books in Nepali

*''Flaneurko Diary'' (2015/2071) *''Sahitya ra Aambritta (''Criticism) 2013/2070) *''Chiriyeka Sanjhharu'' (play) 2011 *''Nibandhama Uttarbarti Kaalkhanda'' (essays) 2009 *''Teen Natak'' (three plays) 2008 *''Nibandha ra Tundikhel'', 2008 *''Paanch Natak'' (five plays) 2004 *''Carpettangieko Aakaas'' (essays) 1998 *''Shavda ra Chot'' (poems), 1997 *''Madhyam ra Rachana'' (literary criticism), 1997 *''Paschatya Kavy Siddhanta'', (Western criticism) 1973 *''Sirjana ra Mulyankan'' (literary criticism),1982

Books in English

*''Bruised Evenings'' 2011 (play) *''Nepali Theatre as I See It'', 2007 *''Three Plays.'' Trans Sangita Rayamajhi, 2003 *''Dreams of Peach Blossoms'', 2001, 2012 (play) *''Ekai Kawaguchi: the Trespassing Insider'', 1999 *''Chasing Dreams: Kathmandu Odyssey'', (poetic play) *''Nepali Literature: Background and History,'' 1978 *''Manas'' (English poems), joint collection with Peter J. Karthak, 1974

Translations, editing and joint collections

*''Aadhunik Japani Kavita'', 1987 *''Poems of the Century'', 2000 *''Voices from Nepal'' (joint work), 1999 *''Beyond Borders: an Anthology of SAARC Poetry,'' 2002 *''Japani Haiku: Hijor ra Aaja'', 1987 *''Japani Noh Naatak'', 1989 *''Samakalin Nepali Kavita'', 1996 *''Biswosahityako Aithihashik Rooprekha'', 1974 *''Pacchisbarshakaa Nepali Kavita'', 1982

Ecology and Conservation

His keynote speech at the Nepal Year of Conservation 2009 UK Celebration hosted by the Zoological Society of London was published in the Kathmandu Post on 25 November 2009. In his address he stated that the plentifulness of animals and the perennial existence of opulent nature was a myth and gave examples of visual dramatisation of animals in relation with hegemonic power structures.

Awards

* SAARC Literary Award 2010 - Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature *Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award 2013