Indian poetry and Indian literature in general, has a long history dating back to Vedic times. They were written in various Indian languages such as Vedic Sanskrit, Classical Sanskrit, Ancient Meitei, Modern Meitei, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Maithili, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese, Urdu, and Hindi. Poetry in foreign languages such as English also has a strong influence on Indian poetry. The poetry reflects diverse spiritual traditions within India. In particular, many Indian poets have been inspired by mystical experiences. Poetry is the oldest form of literature and has a rich written and oral tradition.
Nissim Ezekiel was an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor and art critic. He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for Indian poetry in English.
Dattātreya Rāmachandra Bēndre, popularly known as Da Rā Bēndre, is generally considered the greatest Kannada lyric poet of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the history of Kannada literature. A pioneering poet of Kannada's Navōdaya movement and a leading figure in the linguistic renaissance of Kannada in the region of North Karnataka, Bendre forged a new path in Kannada literature and modern Kannada poetry through his original use of desi Kannada, particularly Dharwad Kannada – the form of Kannada spoken in the North Karnataka region of Dharwad. The richness, originality, and euphony of his poetry, his preternatural feel for the Kannada language, and his charismatic personality would result in him being hailed as a Varakavi by the Kannada people. In a poetic journey that spanned almost 70 years, Bendre engaged continuously in what he called Kāvyōdyōga or 'The High Yoga of Poetry'.
Jayanta Mahapatra was an Indian poet. He is the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. He was the author of poems such as "Indian Summer" and "Hunger", which are regarded as classics in modern Indian English literature. He was awarded a Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India in 2009, but he returned the award in 2015 to protest against rising intolerance in India.
Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English (IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. Its early history began with the works of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio and Michael Madhusudan Dutt followed by Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo. R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao contributed to the growth and popularity of Indian English fiction in the 1930s. It is also associated, in some cases, with the works of members of the Indian diaspora who subsequently compose works in English.
Soumitra Mohan is a prominent Hindi poet and an exponent of the Akavita movement in Hindi poetry. He is known as a rebel who voiced vehement protest, and is best remembered for his poem, Luqman Ali.
Indian English poetry is the oldest form of Indian English literature. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio is considered the first poet in the lineage of Indian English poetry followed by Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, and Toru Dutt, among others.
Viśvanātha Kavirāja, most widely known for his masterpiece in aesthetics, Sāhityadarpaṇa, was a prolific poet, scholar, and rhetorician who ascended literary heights during the reigns of two successive Eastern Ganga rulers of Kalinga (India) – King Narasimha Deva IV and King Nishanka Bhanudeva IV. In absence of availability of exact dates of his birth and date, the periods of their rules is assumed to be the time of Viswanatha.
Kamala Surayya , popularly known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and married name Kamala Das, was an Indian poet in English as well as an author in Malayalam from Kerala, India .Her fame in Kerala primarily stems from her short stories and autobiography, "My Story," whereas her body of work in English, penned under the pseudonym Kamala Das, is renowned for its poems and candid autobiography. She was also a widely read columnist and wrote on diverse topics including women's issues, child care, politics, etc. Her liberal treatment of female sexuality, marked her as an iconoclast in popular culture of her generation. On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at Jehangir Hospital in Pune.
Samartha Vashishtha is an Indian poet writing in English and Hindi, his mothertongue. He has published three volumes of poems; two in English — Anhadnad, a collection of his childhood poems in the year 2000 and Shadows Don't Live in Walls in 2004 — and a book of poems in Hindi titled Sapne Mein Piya Pani. He won a Poetry Chain-Poetry Society (India) Annual Poetry Prize in 2003 for his poem-sequence, Simla.
Sitakant Mahapatra is an Indian poet and literary critic in Odia as well as English. He served in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from 1961 until he retired in 1995, and has held ex officio posts such as the Chairman of National Book Trust, New Delhi since then.
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra is an Indian poet, anthologist, literary critic and translator.
Hiren Bhattacharyya, popularly known as Hiruda, was an Indian poet and lyricist best for his works in the Assamese literature. He had innumerable works published in Assamese and achieved many prizes and accolades for his poetry. In 2012, Bhattacharyya died at hospital due to undergoing treatment for lung and urinary infection since 14 June.
Luljeta Lleshanaku is an Albanian poet who is the recipient of the 2009 Crystal Vilenica award for European poets. She was educated in literature at the University of Tirana and was editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Zëri i rinisë. She then worked for the literary newspaper Drita (Light). In 1996, she received the best book of the year award from the Eurorilindja Publishing House. In 1999, she took part in the International Writers Program at the University of Iowa. She is the author of four poetry collections, one volume of which has been translated into English: Fresco, available from New Directions. The writer, critic and editor Peter Constantine, in his introduction to Fresco, sums up her style in this way:
Luljeta Lleshanaku is a pioneer of Albanian poetry. She speaks with a completely original voice, her imagery and language always unexpected and innovative. Her poetry has little connection to poetic styles past or present in America, Europe, or the rest of the world. And it is not connected to anything in Albanian poetry either. We have in Lleshanaku a completely original poet."
Yuyutsu Ram Dass Sharma is a Nepalese-Indian poet and journalist. He was born at Nakodar, Punjab and moved to Nepal at an early age. He writes in English and Nepali.
Nandini Sahu is an Indian poet and creative writer. She is the Director, School of Foreign Languages and professor of English at Indira Gandhi National Open University [IGNOU], New Delhi. Her areas of research interest cover Indian Literature, New Literatures, Folklore and Culture Studies, American Literature, Children’s Literature and Critical Theory. She is the Chief Editor/Founder Editor of Interdisciplinary Journal of Literature and Language(IJLL), and Panorama Literaria, both bi-annual peer-reviewed journals in English. She is also professor of English at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India. She has written several books including poetry in English. Her poetry has been published in India, US, UK, Africa and Pakistan. She has won three gold medals in English literature and also the award of All India Poetry Contest in 1993 at Saint Xavier College, Ranchi and Shiksha Ratna Purashkar. She is also editor in chief of Interdisciplinary Journal of Literature and Language
Poetry Chain is an English poetry journal of India published quarterly from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The Indian English poet Gopi Kottoor is its founder editor. The journal was founded in 1997 with the mentoring of the Indian poet Ayyappa Paniker, who was involved with the journal until his death in 2007. In 2009 it was relaunched as online-only publication.
"Indian Summer" is a popular English poem by Indian poet Jayanta Mahapatra. The poem is widely anthologised in important poetry collections and is used as standard reading material in the English syllabus of most Indian schools, colleges and universities. The poem was originally a part of his collection A Rain of Rites.
"Calcutta If You Must Exile Me" is the best known single poem of the renowned Indian English poet and media personality Pritish Nandy. The poem is widely anthologised in major Indian English poetry collections and is regarded as a pioneering classic in modern Indian English writing. The poem is remarkable for its breathless tempo, vivid imagery and unsuppressed angst at societal decadence. The poem is addressed to the Indian city of Kolkata, although not in eulogical terms.
Vinita Agrawal is an Indian poet, editor and curator. She is the author of four books of poetry and the editor of an anthology on climate change. She was short listed for 2018 Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize for her poetry collection The Silk of Hunger and awarded the prize jointly. She is on the advisory board of the Tagore Literary Prize. She is a poetry editor with Usawa Literary Review.