Sujata Bhatt (born 6 May 1956) is an acclaimed Indian poet known for her evocative and culturally rich works, has carved a unique niche in the world of literature through her exploration of identity, language, and cultural intricacies. Born in India and exposed to diverse cultures through her global travels, Bhatt's life experiences have profoundly influenced her poetic expressions.

Life and career

Sujata Bhatt was born in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and brought up in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, until she immigrated to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with her family in 1968. She has an MFA from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, and for a time was writer-in-residence at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. She received the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

) and

Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize The Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize was awarded by the Poetry Society of London for a collection of poetry. It is named after Alice Hunt Bartlett who was the American editor of the society's ''Poetry Review'' from 1923 to 1949. The prize was establishe ...

for her first collection ''Brunizem'' in 1987.Profile at the Poetry Archive
/ref> She received a Cholmondeley Award in 1991 and Italian Tratti Poetry Prize in 2000. She has translated Gujarati poetry into English for the ''Penguin Anthology of Contemporary Indian Women Poets''. Combining Gujarati and English, Bhatt writes "Indian-English rather than Anglo-Indian poetry."Schmidt, Michael: ''Lives of Poets'', p860. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998. Michael Schmidt observed that her "free verse is fast-moving, urgent with narratives, softly spoken. Bhatt lives in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with her husband, the German writer Michael Augustin, and daughter.

Poetry collections

*1988 ''Brunizem''

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom. Originally a student magazine devised by undergraduates collaborating between Oxford and Cambridge, it was refounded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was nam ...

*1989 ''The One Who Goes Away'' Carcanet Press *1991 ''Monkey Shadows'' Carcanet Press *1995 ''The Stinking Rose'' Carcanet Press *1997 ''Point No Point'' Carcanet Press *2000 ''Augatora'' Carcanet Press *2002 ''The Colour of Solitude'' (Second edition) Carcanet Press *2008 ''Pure Lizard'' Carcanet Press

References

External links

Profile and poems written and audio at the Poetry Archivepoems written archived at The Poetry Society UKBritish Council profile

BBC Radio 4. ''Woman's Hour'' 4 July 2002 (Audio 5 mins)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatt, Sujata 1956 births Indian women poets 20th-century Indian women writers English-language poets from India Living people Gujarati writers German people of Indian descent 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Gujarat Women writers from Gujarat Writers from Ahmedabad