Michael James Hutt (born 11 October 1957) is Professor of Nepali and Himalayan Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He is engaged in the study of modern and contemporary Nepali literature, and as a translator. He has also published on Nepali politics, Nepali art and architecture, censorship in the Nepali print media, and the Bhutanese refugee issue.
Michael Hutt was educated at St. Austell Grammar School, and St. Austell Sixth Form College before completing a BA in South Asian Studies (Hindi) in 1980 and a Ph.D. on the history of the Nepali language and its literature in 1984, both at SOAS. In 1987 he returned to SOAS as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, and has been engaged in teaching and research relating to Nepal here ever since. He was Head of the South Asia Department from 1995–9, and has served as both Associate Dean (2002-4) and Dean (2004–10) of the Faculty of Languages and Cultures. [1] Prof. Hutt is a member of Centre of South Asian Studies and the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies at SOAS. In 2011 the Chancellor of the Nepal Academy presented Prof. Hutt with the Nai Derukha International Award ‘for his continuous dedication to promoting the study of Nepali literature in the international arena’. [2]
Hutt, Michael (2010) The Life of Bhupi Sherchan: Poetry and Politics in Post-Rana Nepal. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Hutt, Michael and Chettri, Lil Bahadur (2008) Mountains Painted with Turmeric. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hutt, Michael (2003) Unbecoming Citizens: Culture, Nationhood, and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan. Oxford University Press.
Hutt, Michael and Subedi, Abhi (1999) Teach Yourself Nepali. A complete course in understanding, speaking and writing Nepali. London: Hodder Headline.
Hutt, Michael (1997) Modern Literary Nepali: an Introductory Reader. Oxford University Press (New Delhi).
Hutt, Michael (1996) Devkota's Muna-Madan: Translation and Analysis. Kathmandu: Sajha Publishers.
Hutt, Michael (1994) Nepal: a Guide to the Art and Architecture of the Kathmandu Valley. Gartmore: Kiscadale Publications.
Hutt, Michael (1991) Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Voices from Asia)
Hutt, Michael (1988) Nepali: A National Language and its Literature. New Delhi and London: Sterling Publishers and School of Oriental and African Studies.
Hutt, Michael, ed. (2004) Himalayan ‘People’s War’: Nepal's Maoist Rebellion. London: C. Hurst and Co.
Hutt, Michael, ed. (1994) Bhutan: Perspectives on Conflict and Dissent. Gartmore: Kiscadale Publications.
Hutt, Michael, ed. (1994) Nepal in the Nineties: Versions of the Past, Visions of the Future. New Delhi : Oxford University Press. (SOAS studies on South Asia)
Hutt, Michael (2009) 'Where is home for an Indian Nepali writer?' In: Subba, T.B. and Sinha, A.C. and Nepal, G.S. and Nepali, D.R., (eds.), Indian Nepalis: Issues and Perspectives. New Delhi : Concept Publishing Companhael (2004) 'Introduction: Monarchy, Democracy and Maoism in Nepal.' In: Hutt, M., (ed.), Himalayan 'People's War': Nepal's Maoist Rebelon : Indiana University Press: Hurst & Company, pp. 1–20.
Hutt, Michael (2003) 'Reading Sumnima.' In: Lecomte-Tilouine, M. and Dolfus, P., (eds.), Ethnic Revival and Religious Turmoil. Identities and Representation in the Himalayas. Oxford University Press, pp. 23–43. Hutt, Michael (2001) 'Rup Chand Bista.' In: Jones, D, (ed.), Censorship: a World Encyclopedia. Fitzroy Dearborn (UK & USA), pp. 1689–1690.
Hutt, Michael (2001) 'Bhutan.' In: Jones, D, (ed.), Censorship: a World Encyclopedia. Fitzroy Dearborn (London and Chicago), pp. 225–226.
Hutt, Michael (2001) 'Nepal.' In: Jones, D, (ed.), Censorship: a World Encyclopedia. Fitzroy Dearborn (UK & USA), pp. 246–247.
Hutt, Michael (1997) 'Being Nepali without Nepal: reflections on a South Asian diaspora.' In: D, eds and Pfaff-Czarnecka, J and Whelpton, J, (eds.), Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom. The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Nepal. Harwood Academic Publishers (Amsterdam), pp. 101–144.
Hutt, Michael (1996) 'Looking for Shangri-la, from Hilton to Lamicchane.' In: T, ed, (ed.), The Tourist Image: Myths and Myth-Making in Tourism. John Wiley & Sons (Chichester), pp. 49–60.
Hutt, Michael (2012) 'Singing the New Nepal.' Nations and Nationalism, 18 (2). pp. 306–325.
Hutt, Michael and Whelpton, John (2011) 'The Catalogue of the Hodgson Collection in the British Library.' European Bulletin of Himalayan research, 39 . pp. 128–143.
Hutt, Michael (2007) 'Bhupi Sherchan: from schoolboy to Sarvahara.' Studies in Nepali History and Society, 12 (1). pp. 1–24.
Hutt, Michael (2007) 'A Nepalese Triangle: Monarchy, Maoists and Political Parties.' Asian Affairs, 38 (1). pp. 12–22.
Hutt, Michael (2006) 'Things That Should Not Be Said: Censorship and Self-Censorship in the Nepali Press Media, 2001–02.' The Journal of Asian Studies, 65 (2). pp. 361–392.
Hutt, Michael (2006) 'Nepal and Bhutan in 2005. Monarchy and Democracy: Can They Co-exist?' Asian Survey, 46 (1). pp. 120–124.
Hutt, Michael (2005) 'Nepal and Bhutan in 2004: Two Kings, Two Futures.' Asian Survey, 45 (1). pp. 83–87.
Hutt, Michael (2005) 'The Bhutanese refugees: between verification, repatriation and royal realpolitik.' Journal of Peace and Democracy in South Asia, vol.1 (1) . pp. 44–55.
Hutt, Michael (2005) 'King Gyanendras coup and its implications for Nepals future.' The Brown Journal of World Affairs, vol. 12 (1) . pp. 111–123.
Hutt, Michael (2001) 'Monarchy, Maoism and democracy in Nepal.' Journal of Conflict, Security & Development, vol. 1 (no2) . pp. 93–101.
Hutt, Michael (2000) 'Unadmitted Histories: the lives of Dalchan and Garjaman Gurun.' European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, 19 . pp. 101–115.
Hutt, Michael (1998) 'Going to Mugalan: Nepali literary representations of migration to India and Bhutan.' South Asia Research, 18 (2). pp. 195–214.
Hutt, Michael (1997) 'Bhutan in 1996: Continuing Stress.' Asian Survey, 37 (2). pp. 155–159.
Hutt, Michael (1996) 'Bhutan in 1995: Weathering the Storm.' Asian Survey, 36 (2). pp. 204–208.
Hutt, Michael (1996) 'Ethnic Nationalism, refugees and Bhutan.' Journal of Refugee Studies, 9 No.4 . pp. 397–420.
Hutt, Michael (1994) 'The Poetry of Mohan Koirala.' Journal of South Asian Literature, 29 (1). pp. 155–174.
Hutt, Michael (1993) 'Bhutan: Refugees from Shangri-la.' Index on Censorship, 22 (4). pp. 9–14.
Hutt, Michael (1991) 'Drafting the Nepal Constitution, 1990.' Asian Survey, 31 (11). pp. 1020–1039.
Hutt, Michael (1991) 'Nepal: the Pale Dawn of Democracy.' Index on Censorship, 20 (7). pp. 18–26.
Hutt, Michael (1990) 'The Blowing of the April Wind: Writers and democracy in Nepal.' Index on Censorship, 19 (8). pp. 5–9.
Hutt, Michael (1989) 'A hero or a traitor? The Gurkha soldier in Nepali literature.' South Asia Research, 9 (1). pp. 21–32.
Hutt, Michael (1989) 'Reflections of Political Change in Modern Nepali Literature.' Kailash - Journal of Himalayan Studies, 15 (3-4). pp. 135–156.
Hutt, Michael (1984) 'Neon Lights and Vedic caves: European influences on the Nepali writer.' South Asia Research, 4 (2). pp. 124–138.
Hutt, Michael (1988) Nepali: A National Language and its Literature. Other. New Delhi and London: Sterling Publishers and School of Oriental and African Studies.
Among Hutt's published translation works is the English translation of Buddhisagar's novel Karnali Blues .
The Lhotshampa or Lhotsampa people are a heterogeneous Bhutanese people of Nepali descent. The Lhotshampa were estimated to comprise around 35% of the Bhutan's population by the U.S. Department of State as of 2008. The Lhotshampa are predominantly Hindu and speak the Nepali language.
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 to the north, and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.
Sher Bahadur Deuba is a Nepali politician and former prime minister of Nepal. He has also been serving as the president of the Nepali Congress since 2016. Deuba has served five terms as prime minister and is the Member of Parliament for the parliamentary constituency of Dadeldhura 1.
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia situated in the Eastern Himalayas between China in the north and India in the south. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi), Bhutan ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. Vajrayana Buddhism is the state religion and the Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion.
The Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist) (abbr. CPB (MLM)) is an underground communist party in Bhutan.
The Nepalese democracy movement was the combination of a series of political initiatives and movements from the 20th century to 2008 that advocated the establishment of representative democracy, a multi-party political system and the abolition of monarchy in Nepal. It has seen three major movements, the Revolution of 1951, Jana Andolan and Loktantra Andolan which ultimately abolished the Shah monarchy, transitioned Nepal towards a republic and reintroduced multi-party bicameral democracy.
The Digital Himalaya project was established in December 2000 by Mark Turin, Alan Macfarlane, Sara Shneiderman, and Sarah Harrison. The project's principal goal is to collect and preserve historical multimedia materials relating to the Himalaya, such as photographs, recordings, and journals, and make those resources available over the internet and offline, on external storage media. The project team have digitized older ethnographic collections and data sets that were deteriorating in their analogue formats, so as to protect them from deterioration and make them available and accessible to originating communities in the Himalayan region and a global community of scholars.
Bhutanese refugees are Lhotshampas ("southerners"), a group of Nepali language-speaking Bhutanese people. These refugees registered in refugee camps in eastern Nepal during the 1990s as Bhutanese citizens who fled or were deported from Bhutan during the protest against the Bhutanese government by some of the Lhotshampas demanding human rights and democracy in Bhutan. As Nepal and Bhutan have yet to implement an agreement on repatriation, most Bhutanese refugees have since resettled in North America, Oceania and Europe under the auspices of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Many Lhotshampa have also migrated to areas of West Bengal and Assam in India independently of the UNHCR.
Nepali literature refers to literature written in the Nepali language. The Nepali language has been the national language of Nepal since 1958.
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 Mathi Andho Manche, which remains his most popular work.
Muna Madan is a 1936 Nepali-language episodic love poem written by Laxmi Prasad Devkota. It is about Madan, newly married to Muna, who leaves for Lhasa in Tibet to make his fortune, despite protests from his wife.
The Kingdom of Sikkim, officially Dremoshong until the 1800s, was a hereditary monarchy in the Eastern Himalayas which existed from 1642 to 16 May 1975, when it was annexed by India. It was ruled by Chogyals of the Namgyal dynasty.
Human rights in Bhutan are those outlined in Article 7 of its Constitution. The Royal Government of Bhutan has affirmed its commitment to the "enjoyment of all human rights" as integral to the achievement of 'gross national happiness' (GNH); the unique principle which Bhutan strives for, as opposed to fiscally based measures such as GDP.
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.
Relations between Bhutan and Nepal were formally established in 1983. Both Himalayan countries are landlocked, separated only by the Indian State of Sikkim. Both countries are bordered by India and the People's Republic of China. However, the current state of relations remains strained owing to the Bhutanese refugee crisis.
Ethnic cleansing in Bhutan refers to acts of violence to remove the Lhotshampa, or ethnic Nepalis, from Bhutan. Inter-ethnic tensions in Bhutan have resulted in the flight of many Lhotshampa to Nepal, many of whom have been expelled by the Bhutanese military. By 1996, over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees were living in refugee camps in Nepal. Many have since resettled in Western countries.
Communism in Nepal traces its roots back to the pro-democracy movement of 1951, and the subsequent overthrow of the autocratic Rana regime and the establishment of democracy in Nepal. The communist movement in Nepal has split into factions multiple times and multiple factions have come together into a single fold at times as well. It has a history of getting banned from open political discourse, as well as multiple instances of embracing guerrilla insurgency, most notably, the Maoist insurgency in the 1990s and early 2000s that led to the Nepalese Civil War, claiming at least 17,000 lives.
Mohan Koirala was a Nepalese poet, known for his prose poems and poems against the Rana regime. Some of this poems has been translated in English. He won Madan Puraskar in 2038 BS.
Sajha Puraskar is a literary award given by Sajha Publications. It is presented annually to the best book published by Sajha Publication.