Kunwar Narayan (19 September 1927 – 15 November 2017) was a poet in Indian literature in Hindi. He read and traveled widely and wrote for six decades. He was linked to the New Poetry movement.
Death
He died on 15 November 2017 at the age of 90.
Works
Poetry
Chakravyūh (Circular Siege), 1956. Radhakrishan, Delhi (first published by Rajkamal Prakashan). Tīsrā Saptak (Third Heptad), seven poets, ed. Agyeya, 1959. Bharatiya Jnanpith, Delhi. P: Hum-Tum (Surroundings: Us-You), 1961. Vani Prakashan, Delhi (first published by Bharti Bhandar, Allahabad). Apné Sāmné (In Front of Us), 1979. Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi. Koī Dūsrā Nahīn (No One the Other), 1993. Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi. In Dino (These Days), 2002. Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi. Vājaśravā ke bahāne, 2008 Hāśiye kā gavāh, 2009
Epic poems
Ātmajayī (Self-Conqueror), based on the Upanishadic episode of Nachikétā in Kathopnishad, 1965. Bharatiya Jnanpith, Delhi. Vājashravā Ké Bahāné (On Vajashrava's Pretext), independent poems linked to Ātmajayī's context, 2008. Bharatiya Jnanpith.
Fiction
Ākāron Ké Ās-Pās (Near-about Shapes), a collection of short stories, 1973. Radhakrishan Prakashan, Delhi.
Criticism
Āj Aur Āj Sé Pahlé (Today and Before Today), 1998. Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi. Méré Sākshātkār (My Interviews), interviews given by Kunwar Narain, ed. Vinod Bhardwaj, 1999. Kitabghar Prakashan, Delhi. Sāhitya Ké Kuchh Antar-Vishayak Sandarbh (Some Interdisciplinary Contexts of Literature), XIV Samvatsar Lecture, 2003. Sahitya Akademi.
Translations
Selected poems of and essay on Constantine Cavafy, 'Tanāv', 1986 and Jorge-Luis Borges, 'Tanāv', 1987. Selected poems of Stéphane Mallarmé, Tadeusz Różewicz, Derek Walcott, Zbigniew Herbert, Anna Świrszczyńska, etc.
Compilations
Kunwar Nārāin: Sansār-I (World: Select writings of Kunwar Narain), ed. Yatindra Mishra, 2002. Vani Prakashan, Delhi. Kunwar Nārāin: Upasthiti-II (Presence: Select articles on Kunwar Narain and his writings), ed. Y Mishra, 2002. Vani Prakashan. Kunwar Nārāin: Chunī Huī Kavitāyein (Selected Poems), ed. Suresh Salil, 2007. Medha Books, Delhi. Kunwar Nārāin: Pratinidhī Kavitāyein (Representative Poems), ed. Purshottam Agarwal, 2008. Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi.
Awards and recognition
Jnanpith Award (considered as the highest literary award in India), for overall contribution in Hindi literature, 2005 Padma Bhushan the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India for 'Literature & Education', 2009