Suman Pokhrel ( ne, सुमन पोखरेल; born on

September 21 Events Pre-1600 * 455 – Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power. * 1170 – The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders. * 1217 – Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

) is a Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist. Universities in Nepal and India have included his poetry in their syllabus. Suman Pokhrel is the sole writer to receive the

SAARC Literary Award SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature ( FOSWAL) since 2001 Shamshur Rahman, Mahasweta Devi, Jayanta Mahapatra, Abhi Subedi, Mark Tully, Sitakant Mahapatra, Uday Prakash, Suman Pokhrel ...

twice.Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Saturday, February 14, 2015 He received this award in 2013 and 2015 for his own poetry and his contributions to poetry and art in general in the

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

region.

Early life

Suman Pokhrel was born on September 21, 1967 in Mills Area,

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Province No. 1. With a population of 242,548 as per the 2011 census, it is the largest city in the province and also the headquarters of Morang district. As per the p ...

, to Mukunda Prasad Pokhrel and Bhakta Devi Pokhrel. Kachide

Suman Pokhrel attended Bal Mandir, a government owned

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, until he was five. Pokhrel got moved to his ancestral village of Kachide in

Dhankuta Dhankuta ( ne, धनकुटा ) is a hill town and the headquarter of Koshi Zone located in Dhankuta District of Eastern Nepal. According to 2011 Nepal census, it has population of 26,440 inhabitants. History Until about 1963 Dhankuta Ba ...

at the age of seven and raised there by his paternal grandmother. His paternal grandfather

Bidhyanath Pokhrel Bidhyanath Pokhrel ( ne, :ne: विद्यानाथ पोख्रेल, 9 June 1918 – 25 August 1994) was a Nepali poet and politician. He was an anti-Rana democratic politician. He took charge of the ''Dhankuta Front'' during the ...

was a poet and a politician. He was introduced to literature early through the influence of his grandfather's library, filled with Nepali,

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 ...

and classic

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

literature. At the age of twelve, he moved back to

to live with his parents. Pokhrel was mentored by his father, who was an engineer by profession and a bibliophile with a keen interest in art and literature.

Education

Pokhrel earned his

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

, MBA and BL from the

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ne, त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest university in Nepal. In terms of enrollment, it is t ...

, Nepal.

Career

Suman Pokhrel joined the Nepali civil service in

Nepal Government Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

as a Section Officer in February 1995. He left the job and joined

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation which works in over 75 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia to advance children’s rights and equality for girls. Its focus is on child protection, education, child par ...

in December 1998 as a development activist and went to the remote hilly region of the country. The job demanded visits to the more remote areas of the region. A Multilingual poet, Suman Pokhrel has written in Nepali,

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 ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

Festivals of Literature in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He read his poem in SAARC Charter Day Celebrations on December 8, 2013 in New Delhi,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

as an especial invitee. He recited his poems in Nepali during a monthly two-poet poetry recital program in

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

in March 2015. He read his poems at All India Poets' Meet in

Orissa, India Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

in February 2016 as an especial invitee poet from foreign country.

Works

As a translator, Pokhrel has translated works of several poets and writers from around the world into Nepali. He has translated

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play '' The Tempest'' into Nepali as Aandhibehari which was published by

Nepal Academy The Nepal Academy ( ne, नेपाल प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठान), formerly known as Royal Nepal Academy ( ne, नेपाल राजकीय प्रज्ञा–प्रतिष्ठान), is an autonomo ...

in 2018. His translations of poetry of

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...

Anna Swir Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Delmira Agustini Delmira Agustini (October 24, 1886 – July 6, 1914) was an Uruguayan poet of the early 20th century. Biography Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, she began writing when she was ten and had her first book of poems published when she was still a teena ...

Forough Farrokhzad Forugh Farrokhzad ( fa, فروغ فرخزاد; 28 December 1934 – 14 February 1967) was an influential Iranian poet and film director. She was a controversial modernist poet and an iconoclast,* feminist author.Forugh Farrokhzad died at the age ...

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Lite ...

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

Mahmoud Darwish Mahmoud Darwish ( ar, محمود درويش, Maḥmūd Darwīsh, 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. He won numerous awards for his works. Darwish used Palestine ...

, Nazik Al Malaika,

Nazim Hikmet Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...

Nizar Qabbani Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani ( ar, نزار توفيق قباني, , french: Nizar Kabbani; 21 March 1923 – 30 April 1998) was a Syrian diplomat, poet, writer and publisher. He is considered to be Syria's National Poet. His poetic style combines sim ...

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and ...

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

Yehuda Amichai Yehuda Amichai ( he, יהודה עמיחי; born Ludwig Pfeuffer 3 May 1924 – 22 September 2000) was an Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew in modern times. Amichai was awarded the 1957 Shlonsky Prize, the ...

. and

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, ''The ...

, are collected in Manpareka Kehi Kavita, an anthology of poetry in Nepali translation. His translations of fifty one of

Kannada Language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...

poets including

Kuvempu Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994), popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He was ...

, G. S. Shivarudrappa, D. R. Bendre,

V. K. Gokak Vinayaka Krishna Gokak (9 August 1909 – 28 April 1992), abbreviated in Kannada as Vi. Kru. Gokak, was an Indian historian and writer in the Kannada language and a scholar of English and Kannada literatures. He was the fifth writer to be hono ...

U. R. Ananthamurthy Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy (21 December 1932 – 22 August 2014) was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 199 ...

Siddalingaiah Siddalingaiah (15 December 1936 – 12 March 2015) was an Indian film director, scriptwriter and producer who worked mainly in the Kannada films. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the industry knew him as a master of so ...

, P. Lankesh,

K. S. Nissar Ahmed Kokkare Hosahalli Shekh Haider Nissar Ahmed (5 February 1936 – 3 May 2020) was an Indian poet and writer in the Kannada language. He was awarded the Padma Shri (2008), the Rajyotsava Award (1981) and the Pampa award for his work (2017). He be ...

Chandrashekhar Patil Chandrashekar Patil (18 June 193910 January 2022), popularly known as Champa, was an Indian poet, playwright and public intellectual writing in Kannada. Patil was a recipient of the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1989 and the Kar ...

Baraguru Ramachandrappa Baraguru Ramachandrappa (born 18 October 1947) is an Indian essayist, lyricist, screenwriter, film director, socialist, writer, novelist, predominantly works in Kannada language and President of the Textbook Revision Committee, in Karnataka Text ...

Doddarange Gowda Doddarangegowda is a Kannada poet and a lyricist working for Kannada cinema. He is a retired professor of Kannada and has published a number of anthologies in Kannada. He has released several audio cassettes and CDs of his poems. Some of his not ...

, Chennaveera Kanavi,

Sumatheendra R Nadig Sumathendra Raghavendra Nadig (4 May 1935 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian professor and writer in Kannada. Nadig came upon the literary scene as a prominent modern poet in the 1960s. He was a close associate of Gopalakrishna Adiga, the leader ...

H. S. Venkateshamurthy Doctor (title), Dr. Hodigere Srinivas Venkateshamurthyhttps://kn.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B2%8E%E0%B2%9A%E0%B3%8D.%E0%B2%8E%E0%B2%B8%E0%B3%8D.%E0%B2%B5%E0%B3%86%E0%B2%82%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%9F%E0%B3%87%E0%B2%B6%E0%B2%AE%E0%B3%82%E0%B2%B0%E0%B3%8D%E0 ...

Gopalakrishna Adiga Mogeri Gopalakrishna Adiga (1918–1992) was a modern Kannada poet. He is known by some commentators as the "pioneer of New style" poetry. The Hindu - 26 September 2002 Biography He was born in an orthodox brahmin family in coastal village of ...

Allama Prabhu Allamaprabhu ( kn, ಅಲ್ಲಮಪ್ರಭು) was a 12th-century mystic-saint and ''Vachana'' poet (called ''Vachanakara'') of the Kannada language, propagating the unitary consciousness of Self and Shiva. Allamaprabhu is one of the cele ...

Manu Baligar Dr. Manu Baligar (Kannada: Manu Baḷigār) is an Indian Kannada writer, author, playwright, former civil servant and the current president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat. He hails from Shigli in Gadag district, and is the elder brother of V. P. B ...

S. R. Ekkundi Subbanna R. Ekkundi (1923–1995) was a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, National Aaward for Teacher and Soviet Land Award. Ekkundi was born in Ranebennur of Haveri district in the year 1923. His father was Ranganath and mother was Rajakka. ...

and

Jayant Kaikini Jayanth Kaikini (born 24 January 1955) is a poet, short story writer, playwright, columnist in Kannada and a lyricist in Kannada Cinema. He has so far published six anthologies of short stories, four books of poetry, three plays and a collecti ...

are collected in anthology titled Shashwat Awaj. Other prominent poets that he has translated into Nepali include

Faiz Ahmad Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

Sahir Ludhiyanvi Abdul Hayee (8 March 1921 – 25 October 1980), popularly known by his pen name (takhallus) Sahir Ludhianvi, was an Indian poet and film song lyricist who wrote primarily in Urdu in addition to Hindi. His work influenced Indian cinema, in ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

and

Uday Prakash Uday Prakash (born 1 January 1952) is a Hindi poet, scholar, journalist, translator and short story writer from India. He has worked as administrator, editor, researcher, and TV director. He writes for major dailies and periodicals as a freelance ...

among others.

Ajit Cour Ajeet Cour (born 1934) is an Indian writer who writes in Punjabi. She is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India. Biography Ajeet Cour was born in the family of S ...

Indira Dangi Indira Dangi ( hi, इन्दिरा दाँगी) (born 13 February 1980) is a Hindi novelist, playwright and short story writer She has published one novel, one theatrical play and two books of short stories. Her works are widely acclai ...

, Sheema Kalbasi, Anamika, Kalpna Singh-Chitnis

Azita Ghahreman Azita Ghahreman (born 1962 Mashhad, Iran) is an Iranian poet. She has written six books in Persian and three books in Swedish. She has also translated American poetry. She has published four collections of poetry: ''Eve's Songs'' (1983), ''Sc ...

and

Hélène Cardona Hélène Cardona is a poet, linguist, literary translator and actor. She was born in Paris, the daughter of Spanish poet Jose Manuel Cardona, from Ibiza, and a Greek mother. She is a citizen of the United States, France and Spain. She studied in th ...

are other contemporary writers and poets whom he has translated into Nepali. Pokhrel's Nepali translations have been considered as among a few best literary translations brought into Nepali. Suman Pokhrel has translated works of many of Nepali-language poets and writers including

Laxmi Prasad Devkota Laxmi Prasad Devkota ( ne, लक्ष्मीप्रसाद देवकोटा) (1909-1959) was a Nepali poet, playwright, and novelist. Honored with the title of Mahakabi ( ne, माहाकवि) in Nepali literature, he was kno ...

Gopal Prasad Rimal Gopal Prasad Rimal ( ne, गोपाल प्रसाद रिमाल; 1975–2030) was a Nepalese poet from Kathmandu, Nepal. According to scholar Michael J. Hutt, "he is remembered as the first "revolutionary" Nepali poet and the first to ...

Bhupi Sherchan Bhupendra Man Sherchan, popularly known as Bhupi Sherchan (1937-1989) was a Nepali poet and academician. He is one of the most beloved and widely read Nepali poets. He was awarded the Sajha Puraskar for his 1969 poetry collection '' Ghumne Mech ...

, Ishwar Ballav,

Abhi Subedi Abhi Subedi ( ne, अभि सुवेदी) is a Nepali poet, playwright, linguist, columnist, translator and critic, who writes in Nepali and English. Biography Abhi Subedi was born in Sabla village of Tehrathum district in eastern Nepal ...

and

Krishna Bhooshan Bal Krishna Bhusan Bal ( ne, कृष्णभूषण बल; 13 March 1948 - 25 June 2012) was a Nepalese poet known primarily for simplifying poetry for its readers at a time when poets were inclined to grandiloquence. Carving emotions into wo ...

into English,

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Yajnaseni

Translation

* ''Aandhibehari'' * ''Manpareka Kehi Kavita'' * ''One Zero One'' * ''Bharat Shashwat Aawaz''

Awards

International

* SAARC Literary Award 2015 – conferred by Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature * SAARC Literary Award 2013 – conferred by Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature

National

* Aarohan Bishesh Samman 2013 - conferred by Aarohan Gurukul

References

External links

*
Official Website of Suman Pokhrel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokhrel, Suman 1967 births Living people People from Biratnagar Nepalese male poets Nepalese artists Nepali-language poets English-language poets Hindi-language poets Urdu-language poets Sanskrit poets Lyric poets Nepalese dramatists and playwrights Nepali-language writers English-language writers Maithili writers Hindi-language writers Nepalese translators Nepalese songwriters Artist authors Translators to Nepali Translators to English Translators to Hindi Translators to Urdu Translators from English Translators from Nepali Translators from Hindi Translators from Urdu 20th-century Nepalese poets 21st-century Nepalese poets Tribhuvan University alumni 20th-century translators 20th-century Nepalese male writers 21st-century male writers People from Morang District People educated at Adarsha High School Nepali-language lyricists Literary translators English–Nepali translators Translators of Anna Akhmatova Translators of Delmira Agustini Translators of Forough Farrokhzad Translators of Gabriela Mistral Translators of Mahmoud Darwish Translators of Nâzım Hikmet Translators of Nizar Qabbani Translators of Octavio Paz Translators of Pablo Neruda Translators of William Shakespeare Multilingual poets English-language poets from Nepal English-language writers from Nepal