Ashok Vajpeyi ( hi, अशोक वाजपेयी; born 1941) is an Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
-language
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, essayist, literary-cultural critic, apart from being a noted cultural and
arts administrator
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...
, and a former civil servant. He was chairman,
Lalit Kala Akademi
The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, i ...
India's National Academy of Arts, Ministry of Culture, Govt of India, 2008–2011. He has published over 23 books of poetry, criticism and art, and was awarded the
Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
given by
Sahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...
, India's National Academy of Letters, in 1994 for his poetry collection, ''Kahin Nahin Wahin''. His notable poetry collections include, ''Shaher Ab Bhi Sambhavana Hai'' (1966), ''Tatpurush'' (1986), ''Bahuri Akela'' (1992), ''Ibarat Se Giri Matrayen'', ''Ummeed ka Doosra Naam'' (2004) and ''Vivaksha'' (2006), besides this he has also published works on literary and art criticism: ''Filhal'', ''Kuchh Poorvagrah'', ''Samay se Bahar'', ''Kavita ka Galp'' and ''Sidhiyan Shuru ho Gayi Hain''. He is generally seen as part of the old Delhi-centric literary-cultural establishment consisting of bureaucrat-poets and academicians like Sitakanta Mahapatra,
Keki Daruwalla
Keki N. Daruwalla (born 24 January 1937J.P.Das,
Gopi Chand Narang
Gopi Chand Narang (11 February 1931 – 15 June 2022) was an Indian theorist, literary critic, and scholar who wrote in Urdu and English. His Urdu literary criticism incorporated a range of modern theoretical frameworks including stylistics, s ...
Indian Administrative Services
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
(IAS) in
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
(MP), in 1965. He was patronized by
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
leader Arjun Singh, and became the state's culture secretary when Singh became the Chief Minister of MP. As the culture secretary, he set up 11 cultural institutions, and made decisions regarding appointment of trustees and office-bearers of these institutions. This made him an influential figure within MP. In 1980s, he gained national recognition, starting with the establishment of Bharat Bhavan, which was inaugurated by prime minister
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
. Vajpeyi lost his powerful position in MP, when Congress' rival
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
came to power in the state. In 1990, the Sunder Lal Patwa government transferred him to the state Revenue Board.
Over the years he served Secretary of Culture, Union
Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
* Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
*Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
*Minister for the Arts (Australia)
*Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)
* Ministry of ...
, and as Vice-Chancellor,
Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya
Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya is a central university located in Wardha, Maharashtra, India.
History
The university began through an Act of Parliament which received the assent of the President on 8 January 1997. Th ...
; trustee,
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Culture (India), Ministry of Culture.
History
The Indira Ga ...
(
IGNCA
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Culture.
History
The Indira Gandhi National centre for arts ...
); member,
Indian Council for Cultural Relations
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...
(
ICCR
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...
), and executive board member of the
Sangeet Natak Akademi
Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India.
History
It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...
. He has won the Dayavati Modi Kavi Shekhar Samman, 1994, and the Kabir Samman (2006). His work has been translated into many Indian languages, besides in English, French, and Polish. After being appointed a pro-tem Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi India's National Academy of Arts, he was subsequently appointed as its regular chairman, in April 2008, till December 2011.
After his retirement from IAS, he has lived in Delhi.
Protest and return of awards
On 7 October 2015 it was reported that Vajpeyi returned his
Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
supporting "the right to dissent" and protesting recent murders of writers. On 20 January 2016, Ashok decided to return D.Litt. given to him by
University of Hyderabad
The University of Hyderabad (IAST: ''Hydarāvād visvavidyālayamu'') is a top ranking public central research university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Founded in 1974, this mostly residential campus has more than 5,000 students a ...
in protest against the “Anti-Dalit” attitude of authorities which has allegedly driven a Dalit student
Rohith Vemula
Rohith Chakravarti Vemula was an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. From July 2015, the university stopped paying Rohith his monthly stipend of (excluding HRA), with friends alleging that he was targeted for raising issues on ca ...
to commit suicide.
Works
* ''Kahin Nahin Vahin'' (Hindi).
Rajkamal Prakashan
Rajkamal Prakashan is a noted publishing house of Hindi literature as well as English book publication. Established in 1947, the publishing house is headquartered in New Delhi, with branches in Patna, Ranchi, Prayagraj, Kolkata and some other loc ...
. .
* ''Jo Nahin Hai'' (Hindi). Kitabghar Prakashan, 1996. .
* ''Seediyan Suroo Ho Gayee Hain'' (Hindi). Vani Prakashan, 1996. .
* ''Ek Patang Anant Mein'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Samay Ke Pass Samay'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Kavita Ka Galpa'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Dukh Chitthirasa Hai'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Umang'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Pao Bhar Jeera Mein Brahambhoj'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Kuch Purvgrah'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Sanshaya Ke Saaye'' (Hindi). Bhartiya Jnanpith. .
* ''Kavita Ka Janpad'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Ujala Ek Mandir Banati Hai'' (Hindi). Rajpal And Sons, .
* ''Avignon''. Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Punarwasu (S.)'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Kuchh Rafoo Kuchh Thigare'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Vivaksha'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* ''Anyatra'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan.
* ''Kabhi Kabhar'' (Hindi). Vani, 2000. .
* ''Bahuri Akela'' (Hindi). Vani, 2005.
* ''Ab Yahan Nahin'' (Hindi). Penguin, 2011. .
;Anthology
* ''Pratinidhi Kavitayen : Ashok Vajpeyi'' (Hindi). Rajkamal Prakashan. .
* "Din firne wale hai" : Ashok Vajpeyi
As a translator, he collaborated with to translate from Polish into Hindi the works of four major Polish poets:
Czesław Miłosz
Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation ...
Outlook
Outlook or The Outlook may refer to:
Computing
* Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft
* Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft
* Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...