Suman Pokhrel (; born 21 September 1967) is a Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist. Universities in

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and India have included his poetry in their syllabi. Pokhrel is the only writer to have received the SAARC Literary Award twice. He received this award in 2013 and 2015. He is recipient of several other national and international literary awards including ''Shaluk International Literature Award'' and ''Asia's Inspiring Poet Award''.Hindustan Times, New Delhi, Saturday, 14 February 2015

Early life

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

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a List of cities in Nepal, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 Nepal census, 2021 census, it is the largest c ...

, to Mukunda Prasad Pokhrel and Bhakta Devi Pokhrel. Kachide

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 Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

, until he was five. Pokhrel got moved to his ancestral village of Kachide in Dhankuta at the age of seven and raised there by his paternal grandmother. His paternal grandfather Bidhyanath Pokhrel was a poet and a politician. He was introduced to literature early through the influence of his grandfather's library, filled with Nepali,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and classic

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

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, MBA and BL from the

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...

, Nepal.

Career

Pokhrel joined the Nepali civil service in Nepal Government as a Section Officer in February 1995. He left the job and joined

Plan International Plan International is a development and humanitarian organisation based in the United Kingdom that works in over 80 countries across Africa, the Americas, and Asia, focusing on children’s rights. In 2024, Plan International reached 43 million ...

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, Pokhrel has written in Nepali, English,

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

languages. Whereas, his works have been translated into several other languages, and are published in magazines and journals from across the countries. Many of his works have been translated into other languages by various translators including himself. Pokhrel has read his poems for both national and international audiences. He has read his poems in SAARC Festivals of Literature in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He read his poem in SAARC Charter Day Celebrations on 8 December 2013, in New Delhi, India as an especial invitee. He recited his poems in Nepali during a monthly two-poet poetry recital program in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

in March 2015. He read his poems at the All India Poets' Meet in Orissa, India, in February 2016 as a specially invited poet from a foreign country. He further participated and read his poems at the First Forum of Asian Countries’ Writers in Nur-Sultan,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, in September 2019, Vishwa Rang in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

, India, in November 2019,

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous territory in Assam, one of the Northeast India, North Eastern states of India. History Under the Kingdom of Bhutan From the ...

Literature Festival in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, India, in January 2023, and Shaluk International Literature Festival in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, in March 2023, as well as the BIMSTEC Literature Festival in March 2023 in New Delhi, India, among several other national and international literature events

Works

Suman Pokhrel published his debut book, ''Shoonya Mutuko Dhadkanbhitra'', a collection of poetry in Nepali language in 1999. Following this, he released ''Hazaar Aankhaa Yee Aankhaa Maa'' in 2003, and ''Jeevanko Chheubaata'' in 2009, which was reissued in 2018. In 2016, he published two more books, ''Soundaryako Sangeet'' and ''Malai Zindaginai Dukhdachha'', comprising Ghazals and lyrics written by him, respectively. Pokhrel recorded his song ''Aaaja Yo Andhyarole'' in 1999, and subsequently, he recorded several other songs including ''Dharti Aakash Bhanda Para'', ''Timi ra Ma Ani Yo Madhumas'', ''Na Ta Din Bhayo'', ''Pagliyera Pokhiyun Jhain'', and ''Kati Mitha Kati Nyana'', among others in music composition of Bednidhi Poudel. Audio albums titled ''Bhitra Kahan Kahan'' and ''Yo Ke Bhayo?'' have been released in 2017 and 2019 respectively, featuring songs with lyrics written by him. In 2016, Pokhrel wrote Yajnaseni, a play based on the

epic The Mahabharata, which premiered in Irving,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, TX, US.''The Unheard Plea'' (2019) featured his lyrics, with music composed and vocals by Sudha Raghuraman and stage performed by Neha Mondal Chakravarty. The performance debuted in New York in 2018 and was later recorded. Suman Pokhrel's poetry, translated into several languages by various translators, including himself for some languages, is featured in notable international anthologies, literary journals, and magazines. Translations of his poems are available in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, ssamese, Bengali, English, French, Georgian, German,

, Italian, Maithili, Odia, Persian, Russian,

, Spanish, and Vietnamese, granting him a wider audience and recognition. As a translator, Pokhrel has translated works of several and writers from around the world into Nepali. He has translated

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' into Nepali as Aandhibehari which was published by Nepal Academy 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; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

, Anna Swir, Allen Ginsberg, Delmira Agustini, Forough Farrokhzad, Gabriela Mistral,

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 realism, poetic ...

Mahmoud Darwish Mahmoud Darwish (; 13 March 1941 – 9 August 2008) was a Palestinians, Palestinian poet and author who was regarded as Palestine's national poet. In 1988 Darwish wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which was the formal declarat ...

, Nazik Al Malaika, Nazim Hikmet, Nizar Qabbani, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, Yehuda Amichai. and Sylvia Plath, are collected in Manpareka Kehi Kavita, an anthology of poetry in Nepali translation. His translations of fifty one of

Kannada Language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...

poets including Kuvempu, G. S. Shivarudrappa, D. R. Bendre, V. K. Gokak, U. R. Ananthamurthy, Siddalingaiah, P. Lankesh, K. S. Nissar Ahmed, Chandrashekhar Patil, Baraguru Ramachandrappa, Doddarange Gowda, Chennaveera Kanavi, Sumatheendra R Nadig, H. S. Venkateshamurthy, Gopalakrishna Adiga, Allama Prabhu, Manu Baligar, S. R. Ekkundi and Jayant Kaikini are collected in anthology titled Shashwat Awaj. Other prominent poets that he has translated into Nepali include Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Langston Hughes,

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

, Gulzar and Uday Prakash among others.

Ajit Cour Ajeet Cour (born 1934) is an Indian writer who writes in Punjabi language, Punjabi. She is a recipient of the List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Punjabi, Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the G ...

, Indira Dangi, Sheema Kalbasi, Anamika, Azita Ghahreman and Hélène Cardona 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. Pokhrel has translated works of many of Nepali-language poets and writers, including Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Gopal Prasad Rimal, Bhupi Sherchan, Ishwar Ballav, Abhi Subedi, Krishna Bhooshan Bal, Sanu Sharma, and Geeta Tripathee among other into English,

and

languages. Additionally, from 2019 to 2022, Pokhrel directed the series ''Kavyaarohan'' in collaboration with Aarohan Gurukul,

, which featured emininent Nepali poets like Bairagi Kainla and Tulasi Diwasa among other.

Poetry

* Shoonya Mutuko Dhadkanbhitra * Hazaar Aankhaa Yee Aankhaamaa * Jeevanko Chheubaata * Malai Zindagi Nai Dukhdachha * Soundryako Sangeet * Itthamvidha Chitra : Itthamvidha Kavita

Play

* Yajnaseni

Translation

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

Recognition and acceptance

The appearance of Suman Pokhrel's poetry on international platforms granted him a wider audience and recognition. His poetry has garnered attention and admiration from people from all walks of life, with many citing and sharing his work. Additionally, his poetry is being included in university curricula, further solidifying his impact and influence in the literary world. Suman Pokhrel's poetry has been part of university literary curricula across countries. His poems are included in syllabi of

and Purbanchal University in Nepal and in University of Kerala, GD Goenka University, and ''Cauvery College For Women'' in India. His verses have left impact that admirers have tattooed them onto their bodies. Writers frequently cite his works in their writings, and his poetry is widely shared across social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. In 2023, Suman Pokhrel was honored with the 'Asia's Inspiring Poet Award' by the Asia Award and the 'Shaluk International Literature Award' by the Shaluk Literary Magazine in Dhaka, Bangladesh. That same year, he was recognized as the 'Author of The Month' by Spillwords Press in New York, USA. Earlier, he was awarded the prestigious SAARC Literary Award in 2013 and again in 2015, making him the only person to receive this honor twice.

Awards

International

* Asia's Inspiring Poet Award (2023) * Spillwords Author of the Month of June Award (2023) * Shaluk International Literature Award (2023) * SAARC Literary Award 2015 – conferred by Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature * SAARC Literary Award 2013 – conferred by Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature * Parikalpana Award (2013)

National

* Bhanu Award (20220) * Aarohan Poetry Award (2022) * Babarsinha Thapa Memorial Award (2022) * Sasidhdhi National Talent Award (2018) * Person of the Year award from Youth for Blood (2015) * Aarohan Bishesh Samman 2013 – conferred by Aarohan Gurukul

Personal life

Suman Pokhrel belongs to an academic and politically active wealthy family within the Nepali context. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers were politicians. His paternal grandfather, Bidhyanath Pokhrel, was also a poet. His maternal grandfather Ganesh Prasad Rijal was a member of the first parliament of Nepal, who was exiled to India after King Mahendra's coup in 1960. His father, ''Mukunda Prasad Pokhrel'', was an engineer with international degrees and a government employee, while his mother, ''Bhakta Devi Pokhrel'', was a BHU graduate and also a Nepal government employee. Suman Pokhrel married Goma Dhungel in 2002. They have two children: a daughter, Ojaswee, and a son, Ajesh, also known as Mansoon. They live in their personal residence in

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 Writers in Maithili 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