Rana Nayar
Professor Rana Nayar (born 1957)[1] is a translator of poetry and short fiction from Punjabi to English.[2] He has more than forty volumes of poetry and translation works to his credit. He is also a theatre artist and has participated in a number of major full-length productions. Initially he taught at the St Bede's College in Shimla before joining the Department of English of Panjab University, Chandigarh, where he is at present teaching.[3]
Major works
A critic, scholar and translator, Rana Nayar has been a pioneer in bringing into Punjabi translation a great number of classics from Punjabi literature. Among the prominent Punjabi authors he has translated are included such literary giants as Gurdial Singh,[4] Raghubir Dhand, Mohan Bhandari and Beeba Balwant inter alia. He has translated two of Gurdial's novels, "Night of the Half-moon" and "Parsa". He has also translated 14 short stories by Gurdial under the title Ëarthy Tones"..[5]
Besides translating the works of such prominent women writers from Punjab such as Amrita Pritam, Ajit Caur and Dalip Kaur Tiwana, he has helped in bringing to public notice such lesser known writers as Chandan Negi, who writes in both Punjabi and Dogri. Rana Nayar was instrumental in revival of interest in Gurdial Singh's novels and short stories.[6]
His first collection of poems (composed by himself) is titled Breathing Spaces, which has received critical review and appreciation in Indian literary circle.
Critical and analytical writing
Rana Nayar's critical works on poetry include "Edward Albee : Towards a Typology of Relationships" published in 2003 by Prestige Publishers. His other critical works which are forthcoming include "Mediations : Self & Society", which is a collection of essays on Indian history, society and culture, and "Third World Narrative : Theory & Practice". He has made seminal contribution to historical analysis of Indian literary translation.[7]
Awards and recognition
Rana Nayar has been a Charles Wallace (India) Trust Awardee, besides having won commendation awards for translation from British Council and Katha. In 2007 he won Sahitya Akademi's Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Prize for Poetry. Rana Nayar is also on the editorial board of the prestigious Lakeview International Journal of Literature & Arts.[8]
Bibliography
- Night of the Half Moon, (MacMillan 1996)
- Parsa (National Book Trust, India 2000)
- From Across the Shores (Sterling 2002)
- Earthly Tones (Fiction House 2002)
- The Eye of a Doe and Other Stories (Sahitya Akademi, India 2003)
- Melting Moments (Unistar 2004)
- Tale of a Cursed Tree (Ravi Sahitya Prakashan 2004)
- The Survivors (Katha 2005)
- Slice of Life (Unistar 2005)
- Shivoham (Rupa 2007)
References
- From Across the Shores: Punjabi Short Stories by Asians in Britain. 2002. ISBN 9789694941240. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
- "Short stories". Hindu.com. 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
- "Panjab University - Profile of Rana Nayar". English.puchd.ac.in. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
- "The Sunday Tribune Review - Gurdial Singh - A Reader". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
- "Celebrating the Vision of Gurdial Singh - Earthy Tones". The Sunday Tribune. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
- "Katha Book Review - The Survivors by Gurdial Singh". Katha.org. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
- "Inter-sections - Essays on Indian Literatures, Translation & Popular Consciousness". Vedamsbooks.in. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
- "LAKEVIEW Editorial Board". Lijla.weebly.com. Retrieved 2015-05-31.