Abhi Subedi (; born June 30, 1945) 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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, columnist, translator and critic, who writes in Nepali and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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 Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

letters before

Devnagari Devanagari ( ; in script: , , ) is an Indic script used in the Indian subcontinent. It is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ancient '' Brāhmī'' script. It is one of the official scripts of India and ...

scripts after seeing his mother read Bengali epic

Kashiram Das Kashiram Das or Kāśīrām Dās (, ; born 16th century) is an important poet in medieval Bengali literature. His Bengali re-telling of the ''Mahābhārata'', known as ''Kāśīdāsī Môhābhārôt'', is a popular and influential version of the ...

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

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 Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...

, Kirtipur and did postgraduate work in

stylistics Stylistics, a branch of applied linguistics, is the study and interpretation of texts of all types, but particularly literary texts, and spoken language with regard to their linguistic and tonal style, where style is the particular variety of l ...

and applied linguistics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Career

Subedi started as a teacher of English at

and after returning from Europe taught stylistics there. He taught for 40 years at the Central Department of English in

, 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 The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

(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. Abhi Subedi's poem, "Soft Storm," is a part of the National Book of Nepal for Class 12 students.

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

*''Forever Arriving'' 2024 (collection of poems) *''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