Essay about Nissim Ezekiel and A.K. Ramanujan - 2082 Words

Nissim Ezekiel (December 24 1924 - January 9, 2004 ) was a poet, playwright and art critic. He was considered the foremost Indian writer in English English-languagegt; of his time. Contents 1 Early life gt; 2 Career gt; 3 Books by Nissim Ezekiel gt; 4 Some of his well-known poems gt; Early life Ezekiel was born in Bombay (now Mumbai Mumbai). Ezekiel’s father was a botany professor and his mother, principal of her own school. He belonged to Mumbais small Bene Israel Jewish community. In 1947, Ezekiel did his Masters in literature from Wilson College, University of Mumbai. In 1947-48, he taught English literature at Khalsa College, Mumbai and published literary articles. After dabbling in radical politics for a while, he sailed†¦show more content†¦Ezekiel received the Sahitya Akademi cultural award in 1983 and the Padma Shri in 1988. He was professor of English and reader in American literature at University of Mumbai during the 1990s, and secretary of the Indian branch of the international writers organization PEN. After a prolonged battle with Alzheimers disease, Nissim Ezekiel died in Mumbai, January 9 2004 at age 79. When he began his writing career in the late 1940s, his use of formal and correct English was criticized, given its association with colonia lism. After 1965, he began experimenting with exaggerated Indian English. Ezekiel, being a member of the Jewish community, approached poetry as an outsider and was different from the nationalistic Indian literature of that time. Most of his poetry was that of the urban India, issues of alienation, love, marriage and sexuality. He acted as a mentor to younger poets, such as Dom Moraes, Adil Jussawalla and Gieve Patel. In the last few years of his life, he was deeply involved in helping Mumbai poets, his advice being forthright, but seldom blunt. Books by Nissim Ezekiel  · Time To Change - 1952  · Sixty Poems - 1953  · The Third - 1959  · The Unfinished Man - 1960  · The Exact Name - 1965  · The Three Plays - 1969 Some of his well-known poems  · The Patriot  · Night of the Scorpion  · The Professor  · Case Study  · Enterprise  · Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher  · Background, Casually  · Poster PrayersShow MoreRelatedIndian Writing in English- Nissim Ezekiel5284 Words   |  22 PagesHawthornden Prize at the age of 19 for his first book of poems A Beginning went on to occupy a pre-eminent position among Indian poets writing in English. Nissim Ezekiel, who came from Indias tiny Bene Israel Jewish community, created a voice and place for Indian poets writing in English and championed their work. A significant and torch bearer poet is Nissim Ezekiel.Recent Indian English poetry adds to, what O.P. Bhatnagar terms as, a process of collective discovery, affirming its richness, sensitivityRead MoreThe Great Deal Of Poetry1790 Words   |  8 Pages There is much image hunting and one often doubts if anything really meaningful is being done. But there are a number of good poets also, like Dom Moraes, Nissim Ezekiel, P. Lal, Kamala Das, A.K. Ramanujan and others. Have done, and are doing commendable work. Giving an estimate of contemporary Indo-Anglian Poetry Amalendu Bose writes. As a historical phenomenon, it is interesting that since 1947 a great deal of poetry has been written by Indians in English; that in both quality and quantityRead MoreWife Novel of Bharathi Mukherjee2831 Words   |  12 Pagesof feminism in an Indian way. (Last Updated on : 22/01/2010) More Articles in Indian English Literature †¢ R . K . Narayan †¢ Mulk Raj Anand †¢ V.S. Naipaul †¢ Salman Rushdie †¢ Amit Chaudhary †¢ Vikram Seth †¢ Rohinton Mistry †¢ Nissim Ezekiel †¢ Toru Dutt †¢ Vikram Chandra †¢ Dhan Gopal Mukherji †¢ Michael Madhusudan Dutt †¢ Bharati Mukherjee †¢ Kiran Desai †¢ Manil Suri †¢ Raj Kamal Jha †¢ Shashi Deshpande †¢ Ashok Kumar Banker †¢ Vikas Swarup †¢ Gita Mehta †¢ Mukul Kesavan