Chandrakant Amritlal Topiwala is a

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

poet and critic from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India.

Early life

Chandrakant Topiwala with his wife (Cropped)

Topiwala was born on 7 August 1936 at

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

, to Amritlal and Lilavati. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati from the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

-affiliated Saint Xavier's College in 1958, and received his Masters in 1960. He completed his PhD in 1982 from

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by N ...

Career

Topiwala taught Gujarati language at K H Madhvani College,

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

from 1961 to 1965. In 1965, he joined Navjivan Commerce and Arts College,

Dahod Dahod is a city on the banks of the Dudhimati River in Dahod District in the State of Gujarat, India. It is said that it has taken its name from Saint Dadhichi, who had an Ashram on the bank of Dudhumati river. The city serves as District He ...

as head of Department of Gujarati, and served as principal of the college from 1971 to 1984. Later he became the director of

Kasturbhai Lalbhai Kasturbhai Lalbhai (19 December 1894 – 20 January 1980) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He co-founded the Arvind Mills along with his brothers and several other institutes. He was a cofounder of the Ahmadabad Education Society ...

Swadhyay Mandir, run by

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society an ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: 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 (per t ...

. He was the president of Parishad during 2016 to 2018.

Works

Poetry

''Maheraman'', his first poetry collection, was published in 1962, followed by ''Kant Tari Rani'' in 1971, which gained him critical acclaim. ''Pakshitirth'' (1988) is further experimental poetry. ''Black Forest'' (1989) was written during his visit to Europe and was influenced by European culture. ''Avagaman'' (1999) and ''Apani Kavyasamriddhi'' (2004) are his other works of poetry.

Criticism

Topiwala is considered a modernist critic. His first book, ''Aparichit A Aparichit B'', was published in 1975 which has four sections. His collection ''Had Parna Hans Ane Albatross'' (1975) is a translation and criticism of French symbolist poetry. ''Madhyamala'' (1983) is a collection of articles on medieval

Gujarati literature The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, othe ...

. Other publications include ''Pratibhasha nu Kavach'' (1984), ''San-sarjanatamak Kavya-vigyan'' (1985), ''Vivechanno Vibhajit Pat'' (1990), ''Granth Ghatna'' (1994) and ''Gujarati Sakshibhasya''.

Translations

He has translated works of the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n-Austrian poet

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

into Gujarati: ''

Duino Elegies The ''Duino Elegies'' (german: Duineser Elegien) are a collection of ten elegies written by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. He was then "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", and began ...

'' as ''Duino Karunikao'' (1976) and ''

Sonnets to Orpheus The ''Sonnets to Orpheus'' (german: Die Sonette an Orpheus) are a cycle of 55 sonnets written in 1922 by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926). It was first published the following year. Rilke, who is "widely recognized as ...

'' as ''Orpheus Prati Sonneto'' (1977). He translated

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

's short prose as ''Kalpo ke Kalpana Mari Parvari Chhe''. He translated and published ''Contemporary Gujarati Poetry'' (1972) and ''Maithili Sahitya no Itihas'' (History of Maithili Literature, 1987) and ''Ishwarni Yatna'' (2004).

Other

Topiwala co-edited ''Adhunik Sahitya Sangnya-Kosh'' (1986), a Gujarati dictionary of literary terms. He also edited ''Vishishta Sahitya Sangnya-Kosh'' (1988), ''Gujarati Tunki Varta Kosh'' (1990), ''Anuadhunikatavad'' (1993), ''Pavan Pagathiya'' (2004). He also edited '' Jayant Khatrini Shreshth Vartao'' (1994).

Awards

He received a

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is ...

in 2002,

Premanand Suvarna Chandrak The Premanand Suvarna Chandrak or Premanand Gold Medal is a literary honour awarded every two years, though sometimes annually, to an established Gujarati writer in order to recognize and promote excellence in Gujarati writing. It is given by an in ...

in 2005, Anantrai Raval Criticism Award and a

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 ...

for his critical study ''Gujarati Sakshibhasya'' in 2012. He was conferred a Samanvay Bhasha Samman award in 2013 for his contributions to literature.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topiwala, Chandrakant Modernist writers Indian literary critics 1939 births Living people 20th-century Indian poets Gujarati-language writers People from Vadodara district Indian male poets Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Poets from Gujarat Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak 20th-century Indian male writers