Kedarnath Singh (7 July 1934 – 19 March 2018) was an Indian poet who wrote in Hindi. He was also an eminent critic and essayist. He was awarded the

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

(2013), Sahitya Akademi Award (1989) in Hindi for his poetry collection, ''Akaal Mein Saras'' (''Cranes in Drought'').

Early life

He was born on 7 July 1934 in village Chakia of (Bairia)

Ballia District Ballia district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ballia district is a part of Azamgarh division situated in the east of Uttar Pradesh. The main economic activity is agriculture. City is the district headquarters and commercial ...

in Eastern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

in Gautam Rajput family. He completed his graduation from Udai Pratap College,

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

. He passed M.A. from Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya and did his Ph.D. from the same university. In Gorakhpur, he spent some time as a Hindi Teacher and went to

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

, where he served as a professor and the head of department of Hindi Language in Indian Languages Center and retired as a professor from

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. He lived in New Delhi. He died on 19 March 2018 in Delhi.

Poetic style

Kedar Nath Singh's poetry is characterized by simple, everyday language and images that string together to convey complex themes. One of his major poems is ''Bagh'', a long poem with the tiger as its central character. Published in the mid 1980s, the poem remains one of the most widely read long poems in Hindi literature and is included in many university curricula. At some level, ''Bagh'' bears a striking resemblance to

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

, but the two remain independent in their treatment and scope. “He was a poet of both presence and absence, of love and loss, of anxieties and questions...," said culture critic and poet Ashok Vajpayee.(5)

Major works

*Poem Collection : Abhi Bilkul Abhi, Zameen pak Rahi Hai, Yahan se Dekho, Akaal mein Saaras, Baagh, Tolstoy aur cycle *Essay and Stories : Mere Samay ke Shabd, Kalpana aur chhayavad, Hindi kavita mein bimb vidhan, Kabristan mein Panchayat *Others :Taana Baana

Awards and honours

He received the

Jnanpith award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

in 2013. He also received Sahitya Akademi award in 1989, the Kumaran Aashan, and the Vyas Award.

References

External links