Charu Sheel Singh ( hi, चारु शील सिंह, 15 May 1955- 3 May 2021) was an Indian writer and scholar of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

language. A treader of the triple path walked by the past great poets Matthew Arnold, T. S. Eliot and Sri Aurobindo, Charu Sheel Singh was a poet, critic and literary theorist. He was not only well acquainted with current schools of thought but also conversant with philosophical theories of the East and the West and the occult traditions, Buddhism and theosophy being among his special areas of interest. He was well known for writing poems and criticism in

. He was a professor of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith is a public university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established in 10 February 1921 as Kashi Vidyapith and later renamed, it is administered under the state legislature of the government of Uttar Pra ...

. He received the ''Maharashtra Dalit Sahitya Akademy Award'' and The Best Writer Award by Penguin International. He is one of the best mythifiers of the city of

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

and his ''Kashi'': A Mandala Poem is the only epic in English language on the city of ''Kashi''

Biography

Charu Sheel Singh was born on 15 May 1955. His father, Pratap Narayan Singh was a ''Sahitya Ratna'' and a Poet. He took his master's degree in English from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

in 1976. In 1978, he was awarded Ph.D. degree in English by

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...

. He was married to Maya and they have a son Padmasambhava. He passed away due to complication arising from asthma on 3 May 2021.

Legacy

Kashi: A Mandala Poem, published in 2007, is considered as one of the very few epics in English on a city. It synthesizes puranic myths with modern science and postmodern theory to create a modern-day epic. It is written in a modern language, with an ancient tradition flowing into the veins of the City Eternal: Varanasi. Charu Sheel Singh is also known for his unique style of bringing philosophy, yoga and tantra to visit poetry and myths. His poetry is full of instances of this happy confluence of modern with ancient, of traditional with personal and of myths with quantum theory. Charu Sheel Singh has been reviewed in commonwealth literature, USA. He is also reviewed in a quarterly journal BLAKE from Rochester University. His book Contemporary Literary Theory is listed in Reader's Guide To English Literature published by Routledge publishers, Abingdon, United Kingdom. His originality and strength of mythical imagination has led poetry lovers to work upon his poetry.

Works

* * * * * *

Edited works

* ''Exiled Among Natives'' (2013) eds. by Prof. Charu Sheel Singh, Dr. Binod Mishra and published by Adhyayan Publishers,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

Awards and recognitions

* Maharashtra Dalit Sahitya Akademy Award * The Best Writer Award, Penguin International

References