Yoseph Macwan (born 20 December 1940 – 25 December 2022) was a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

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. He was also well known for his contribution in Gujarati children's literature.

Biography

He was born on 20 December 1940 at

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 ...

to Philip and Mariyam. His family belonged to Malawada village near

Nadiad Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. The city is managed by the Nadiad Municipality. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir,

. Due to family constraints, he worked as a helper in

Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service Amdavad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) runs the public bus service in the city of Ahmedabad in India.The responsibility of the administration of AMTS comes under the Amdavad Municipal Corporation History Private operators There existed t ...

after SSC but he was underpaid thus he decided to continue studies. He completed B. A. in Gujarati in 1968, M. A. in 1970 and B. Ed. in 1975 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 ...

. He regularly attended Budh Sabha. He joined

Sheth Chimanlal Nagindas Vidyalaya , motto_translation = The light radiates from Him. , location = Ambavadi , streetaddress = , region = , city = Ahmedabad , state = Gujarat , province ...

, Ahmedabad as a teacher in 1963 and served there until his retirement. He ran ''Vaishakhi'' bimonthly for three years. Macwan died on 25 December 2022 in Ahmedabad.

Works

His first work ''Aravata'' was published in Sanskriti magazine. ''Swagat'' (1969) was his first poetry collection which included sonnets, metrical poetry and

geet Geet may refer to: Media * geet (song), a traditional Hindi or Urdu song * ''Geet'' (1944 film) * ''Geet'' (1970 film), a Bollywood film directed by Ramanand Sagar * ''Geet'' (1992 film), a Bollywood film directed by Parto Ghosh * ''Geet'' (TV ...

. His other poetry collections are ''Soorajno Hath'' (1983), ''Alakhna Asawar'' (1994) and ''Avajna X-Ray'' (2000). He has contributed in Gujarati children's literature. His children's poetry collections are ''Tofan'' (1999), ''Ding Dong-Ding Dong'' (1998) while children's stories include ''Vah Re Varta Vah!'' (1994). His birds related poetry includes ''Pranibagni Ser'' and ''Kalrav'' (1990). ''Kan Hoy Te Sambhale'' (2001) and ''Samvedanna Sal Ane Val'' (2004) are his essay collections. ''Halva Hathe'' (1997) has humorous essays. He wrote criticism also which is published in ''Cross Ane Kavi'' (1987), ''Shabdagoshthi'', ''Shabdani Arpar'' (2008), ''Shabdane Ajvale'' (2007) and ''Shabdasahvas'' (2008). ''Stotrasamhita'' (1980) is his metrical translation of the Biblical

alleluia Alleluia (derived from the Hebrew ''Hallelujah'', meaning "Praise Yahweh") is a Latin phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of ...

s which are sung in several churches of Gujarat.

Awards

His first poetry collection ''Swagat'' was awarded by

Government of Gujarat The Government of Gujarat, also known as Gujarat Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciary ...

. His children's poetry was awarded by Gujarati Sahitya Akademi while his children's stories were awarded 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 ...

. He received Jayant Pathak Poetry Award for ''Soorajno Hath'' in 1983. He received Kumar Suvarna Chandrak in 2013.

Personal life

He married twice; 1960-67 and in 1973 to Sabina aka Surbhi. They had two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macwan, Yoseph 1940 births 2022 deaths Gujarati-language writers Writers from Ahmedabad 20th-century Indian poets Children's poets Gujarati-language poets Indian children's writers 20th-century Indian essayists Indian literary critics Gujarat University alumni