Abhay Kumar

Summary

Abhay Kumar [Pen Name Abhay K.] is an Indian poet-diplomat, editor, translator and anthologist.[1] and currently serves as the deputy director general of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2003 after doing master's in geography at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Kirorimal College, Delhi University. He served as India's 21st ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros from 2019-2022[2][3][4] and as India's Deputy Ambassador to Brazil from 2016-2019. He earlier served as Spokesperson and First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal from 2012-2016 and as Acting Consul General of India in St. Petersburg, and Third/Second Secretary at Indian Embassy, Moscow,Russia from 2005 to 2010. He served as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of External Affairs from 2010-2012 and sent out the first tweet on its behalf in 2010 starting a new era of India's Digital Diplomacy.[5]

Abhay K.
Born
Abhay Kumar

NationalityIndian
Alma materKirori Mal College Jawaharlal Nehru University
Occupation(s)Poet, Diplomat, Editor, Anthologist, Ambassador
Known forPoetry, Diplomacy, Earth Anthem, Moon Anthem, Sun Anthem, Cosmic Anthems, Bihari Literature
Websitewww.abhayk.com

His published collections of poetry include Celestial,Stray Poems,Monsoon, The Magic of Madagascar, The Alphabets of Latin America, The Prophecy of Brasilia, The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu, The Seduction of Delhi among others, while his edited books are CAPITALS, 100 Great Indian Poems, 100 More Great Indian Poems, New Brazilian Poems, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems, The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems, The Book of Bihari Literature among others. His Earth Anthem has been translated into over 150 languages [6][7] and was played at the United Nations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day.[8] He also wrote an anthem for SAARC spurring search for an official SAARC Anthem. He wrote a 'Moon Anthem' to celebrate the success of India's Moon Mission Chandrayaan-2.[9][10] and Chandrayaan-3.[11] He also penned a Sun Anthem to mark the launch of ISRO's Aditya-L1[12] He has penned anthems on all the planets in the Solar System.[13] His translation of the first Magahi novel Fool Bahadur will be published by Penguin Random House in 2024.

Abhay K. and Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

He received the SAARC Literary Award for his contribution to contemporary South Asian poetry and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2013. He has also been honoured with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award in 2014. His The Seduction of Delhi was shortlisted for Muse India-Satish Verma Young Writer Award 2015. He has been called a 'World Poet' by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Vijay Seshadri[14] His translation of Kalidasa's Meghaduta and Ritusamhara received Kalinga Literary Festival 2020-2021 Poetry Book of the Year Award.[15] while The Book of Bihari Literature edited by him received KLF Book Award 2022.[16] He recorded his poems at the Library of Congress.[17] His poem 'The Partitioned Land' was taught at the Cornell University in the Fall 2021.[18] His book-length poem 'Monsoon' has been chosen by Harvard University's assistant professor Sarah Dimick to study for a book project on Climate and Literature along with the two books of Amitava Ghosh.[19] He was elected as a foreign corresponding member of Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2023.[20]

Early life and education edit

Abhay was born and raised near Rajgir in Nalanda district of Bihar. He studied at Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2003. He studied Russian language, history and literature at the Moscow State University, U.S. foreign policy at George Washington University and has a Certificate in Poetry Writing from the International Writing Program, University of Iowa.[21] He studied Nepali at Tribhuvan University and a diplomacy module at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He speaks Magahi, Hindi, English, Russian, Nepali, Portuguese and knows French and Sanskrit.

Career edit

Diplomat edit

 
Ambassador Abhay Kumar donating 5000 tonnes of rice to President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar

He is an Indian Foreign Service officer and has served in various positions at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of the government of India and at the Indian missions and posts abroad in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kathmandu, Brasilia and Antananarivo. At the MEA headquarters in New Delhi he served as the Under Secretary Digital diplomacy and sent the first tweet after setting up an official Twitter account of the Ministry of External Affairs of India in 2010.[5][22] He served as the spokesperson of the Embassy of India, Kathmandu from 2012 to 2015.[23] He was appointed Director of the Nehru Centre, London in March 2015 however he could not take up the assignment.[24][25] Subsequently, he was appointed as India's Deputy High Commissioner to Australia in August 2015 however could not take up the assignment.[26] He served as India's Deputy Chief of Mission to Brazil from 2016-2019 and as India's 21st Ambassador to the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar[27] and Comoros from 2019-2022. He currently serves as the Deputy Director General of Indian Council of Cultural Relations responsible for cultural events during India's presidency of G-20 from December 2022-November 2023. He started Indian Foreign Service Day celebrations on 9 October 2011.[28] He also proposed celebration of the International Day of Diplomats on the United Nations Day[29] which was celebrated in Brasilia for the first time on 24 October 2017 with the participation of diplomats from several countries.[30] The second International Day was celebrated in Brasilia while the third one was celebrated in Madagascar.[31] The fourth International Day of Diplomats was celebrated globally.[32] The Embassy of India, Antananarivo became the first Indian Embassy to go solar on 2 October 2020 during his tenure as Ambassador of India to Madagascar[33] and to have a Street Library.[34]

Writer edit

Abhay's first book titled River Valley to Silicon Valley(2007) was a memoir that also contained his first poem, 'Soul Song'.[35] Robert Fay in his piece 'In Search of the Writer-Diplomat tradition' writes- "India continues to maintain this venerable tradition, with poet Abhay Kumar serving in recent years as the Indian Ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros."[36]

Poet edit

 
Abhay K. and Forrest Gander at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020
 
Abhay K, Fady Joudah, Lionel Fogarty, Sadaf Saz, Arjun Deo Charan, Ashok Bajpai at JLF 2015

He has published a dozen collections of poetry:

Enigmatic Love (2009) edit

Love poems from Moscow (Bookwell|2009)[37] In his first collection of poems written during his stay in Moscow, Abhay K. explores various shades of love and mystery associated with this universal emotion.

Fallen Leaves of Autumn (2010) edit

In his second poetry collection Abhay K. turns to nature to seek solace and explores human-nature relationship.

Candling the Light (2011) edit

In his third collection of poems written during his stay in Russia, the poet turns philosophical and deals with existential issues faced by humanity.

Remains(2012) edit

In his fourth poetry collection the poet engages with various figures of Russia such as Gogol, Pushkin, Dostoevsky among others and life in St.Petersburg.

 
Citation of SAARC Literary Award to poet-diplomat Abhay K

The Seduction of Delhi (2014) edit

In his fifth poetry collection written during his stay in Delhi (2010-2012), Abhay K. takes the readers to a poetic ride across the seven cities of Delhi, introduces them to its people, monuments and history. Poet Jayanta Mahapatra, thinks "qualities of love, tenderness and compassion set Abhay K's work apart from much of the general run of current poetics."[38]

The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu (2017) edit

The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu (2017) is a collection on the UNESCO World Heritage sites, festivals, historical personalities, landscapes and prominent places of Nepal written during his stay in Nepal from 2012 to 2015.[39] It was translated into Nepali by Kishore Nepal as Jatra[40] and in Odia by Monalisa Jena as Ashtanetra.

The Prophecy of Brasilia (2018) edit

In his haiku like short poems, Abhay K. creates a poetic portrait of the Brazil's capital city.

The Alphabets of Latin America(2020) edit

Pulitzer Prize winning poet Forrest Gander says about The Alphabets of Latin America(2020)-"Abhay K. has a great sense of lineation, of understatement, of memorable, very particular images, and of manuscript structure."[41]

 
Recipients of SAARC Literary Award 2013

The Magic of Madagascar (2021) edit

The Magic of Madagascar is a bilingual (Eng-French) collection of haiku written by Abhay K. during his stay in the Indian ocean island of Madagascar (2019-2022) which introduces the reader to the rich and unique flora and fauna of Madagascar and its warm and friendly people and monuments.

Monsoon (2022) edit

Monsoon is a poem of 150 stanzas of four lines each written by Abhay K. during his stay in Madagascar which follows the path of monsoon from Madagascar to the Himalayas.

Stray Poems (2022) edit

Stray Poems is his 11th collection of poems written between 2010-2020, which contain poems such as The Partitioned Land, Diplomacy, Cosmic Anthems among others.

Celestial (2023) edit

Celestial is a love poem of 100 rhyming couplets illustrated with the drawings of 10th century Persian astrononer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi. It takes the reader on a poetic ride across all the 88 constellations visible from Earth.

Poems in poetry journals and anthologies edit

Abhay's poems have appeared in several magazines and literary journals including Poetry Salzburg Review,[42] The Asia Literary Review,[43] Gargoyle,[44] and The Caravan.[45] His poems have also been included in a number of anthologies including

  • Greening the Earth edited by K. Satchidanandan and Nishi Chawla (Penguin Random House, India|2023)
  • Voices Now: World Poetry Today edited by Braja K. Sorkar and Binay Laha (Tristoop Books, India| 2022)
  • The Yearbook of Indian Poetry 2022 edited by Sukrita Paul Kumar and Vinita Agrawal (Hawakal Publishers 2022)
  • Converse, Contemporary English Poetry by Indians edited by Sudeep Sen (Pippa Rann Books, UK| 2022)
  • The Yearbook of Indian Poetry 2021 edited by Sukrita Paul Kumar and Vinita Agrawal (Hawakal Publishers 2022)
  • Collegiality and Other Ballads edited by Shamayita Sen (Hawakal Publishers 2021)
  • The Yearbook of Indian Poetry 2020-21 edited by Sukrita Paul Kumar and Vinita Agrawal (Hawakal Publishers 2021)
    • A Poem A Day edited by Gulzar (HarperCollins|2020)
  • The Younger Indian Poets edited by Sudeep Sen(Sahitya Akademi|2019),
  • 100 Great Indian Poems (Bloomsbury|2018),
  • The Himalayan Arc edited by Namita Gokhale (HarperCollins|2018).

Abhay has read his poems at major poetry and literature festivals across the globe.[46][47][48]

In 2022 he appeared on the podcast, The Literary City with Ramjee Chandran, to talk about his career as a poet diplomat.

Editor edit

CAPITALS edit

In 2017, CAPITALS, an anthology of poems on the capital cities of the world edited by Abhay K., was released. It brought poets together from across the planet and included contributions from Derek Walcott, Vijay Seshadri, George Szirtes, and Ruth Padel among other prominent poets from 185 countries.

100 Great Indian Poems edit

100 Great Indian Poems (2018) is an anthology of Indian poetry edited covering over 3000 years of Indian poetry and 28 Indian languages.[49] It has been translated and published into Portuguese,[50] Spanish,[51] Italian,[52][53] Malagasy and Arabic.It has also been translated into French, Russian and Nepali, which will be published soon.[54][55]

New Brazilian Poems edit

This anthology selected, edited and translated by Abhay K. contains the works of 60 contemporary Brazilian poets.

100 More Great Indian Poems edit

It is a sequel of 100 Great Indian Poems and was published in 2019 by Bloomsbury India.

The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems edit

It is a collection of 200 Great Indian Poems edited by Abhay K. and published in 2020.

The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems edit

He has also edited The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems sweeping through three millennia and over two dozen Indian languages.[56]

The Book of Bihari Literature edit

It is a first anthology of its kind edited by Abhay K. which brings together poems and short stories from ten languages of Bihar spanning over 3000 years into English translation. It was published in October 2022 by HarperCollins India.

Translator edit

He has translated poems of 60 Brazilian poets from Portuguese and Kālidāsa's Meghadūta and Ritusamhara from Sanskrit.[57] His translation of the first Magahi novel Fool Bahadurby Jayanath Pati is forthcoming from Penguin Random House.

Lyricist edit

 
Abhay K, Gulzar and Javed Akhtar

In 2013 Abhay released Earth Anthem, a song intended as an anthem for the planet Earth, written by him and translated into eight languages including six official UN languages – Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Russian and Spanish – as well as Hindi and Nepali. It was set to music by Sapan Ghimire and sung by Shreya Sotang from Nepal.[58] It has been translated into over 150 languages.[59][60] On World Environment Day 2017, Abhay K's Earth Anthem composed by L. Subramaniam and sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy was released in Brasilia.[61] A New video of Earth Anthem was released on 22 April 2020 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day.[62] Over 100 eminent artists from across the world came together to read Earth Anthem to mark 51st anniversary of Earth Day on 22 April 2021.[63] Abhay also wrote an anthem for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in an attempt to foster South Asian consciousness and bring the member states of SAARC together.[64][65] It has spurred discussions on the need for an official SAARC Anthem.[66] He is the first Indian poet invited to record his poems at the Library of Congress.[17] He wrote Moon Anthem to mark the landing of Chandrayaan 2 on the Moon, which has been composed by Dr. L. Subramaniam and sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy.[67] He has penned anthems on all the planets in the solar system.[68]

Artist edit

 
A Painting by Abhay K

Abhay's art works use geometric forms and focus on evolution of planetary consciousness.[69] He has had solo exhibitions of his paintings in St. Petersburg, Paris, New Delhi, Brasilia and Antananarivo.[70][71][72][73]

* "The geometry of Malevich and the musical coloured vision of Matyushin gain typical Indian colour vibrancy and even somewhat folklore inflections in his abstract and semi-abstract works."
— Andrey Khlobystn
  • "In his art works Abhay K creates an allegory of planetary consciousness -Emblems of the unity of the peoples. He draws images of apritual unity. A futuristic reworking of figurative and suprematic motives."— Stanislav Savitsky

Poetry-paintings of Abhay K and Italian artist Tarshito exhibited at the National Academy of Art, New Delhi highlight Delhi's glorious past.[74]

Awards and recognition edit

 
Abhay K. called a World Poet by poet Vijay Seshadri
  • 2014: Asia-Pacific Excellence Award[76][79]
  • 2015 : Shortlisted for Muse India-Satish Verma Young Writer Award 2015.
  • 2017: Called 'World Poet' by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Vijay Seshadri
  • 2022: Kalinga Literature Festival Award for the Best Poetry Book of the Year 2021 for the translation of Kalidasa's Meghaduta and Ritusamhara from Sanskrit
  • 2022: Elected an Associate Foreign Corresponding Member of Malagasy Academy
  • 2022: Included in the anthology, Converse: Contemporary English Poetry by Indians, edited by Sudeep Sen, and published by Pippa Rann Books, London.
  • 2023: KLF Book Award 2022 for The Book of Bihari Literature
  • 2023: Elected a Foreign Corresponding Member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, Brasilia

Literary works edit

Poetry books edit

  • Enigmatic Love : Love poems from Moscow (Bookwell|2009)[37]
  • Fallen Leaves of Autumn (ArtXpress|2010)[80]
  • Candling the Light(Yash|2011)[81]
  • Remains (HarAnand|2012)[82]
  • The Seduction of Delhi(Bloomsbury|2014)[83]
  • The Eight-eyed Lord of Kathmandu (Bloomsbury India |2018) & (The Onslaught Press, Oxford & Paris|2017)[84]
  • The Prophecy of Brasilia (Bilingual edition in English and Portuguese| GaNa, Brazil|2018)
  • The Alphabets of Latin America: A Carnival of Poems (Bloomsbury India |2020)[85][86]
  • The Magic of Madagascar (Bilingual edition in French and English|L'Harmattan, Paris|2021) [87][88]
  • Monsoon (Sahitya Akademi, India, 2022)[89]
  • Stray Poems (Poetrywala, India, 2022)
  • Celestial (Mapin, 2023)

Translated edit

  • Uttering Her Name by Gabriel Rosenstock (Salmon Ireland) into Hindi|2015
  • New Brazilian Poems (Ibis Libris, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |2019)
  • Meghaduta by Kalidasa into English (Bloomsbury|2021) [90]
  • Ritusamhara by Kalidasa into English (Bloomsbury|2021)
  • Fool Bahadur by Jayanath Pati, the first Magahi novel (Penguin Random House|2024)

Edited edit

  • Anthology of Contemporary Indian English Poetry (Enchanting Verses Literary Review|2016)[91]
  • CAPITALS (Bloomsbury|2017)[92]
  • 100 Great Indian Poems (Bloomsbury|2017)[93]
  • 100 More Great Indian Poems (Bloomsbury India|2019)[94]
  • The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems (Bloomsbury India|2020)[95]
  • New Brazilian Poems (Ibis Libris|2019)[96]
  • The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems (Bloomsbury|2020)
  • The Book of Bihari Literature (HarperCollins|2022)

Non-fiction edit

  • River Valley to Silicon Valley (Bookwell|2007), republished as Becoming A Civil Servant (Kalinjar|2015)
  • 10 Questions of the Soul (2010)[97]
  • Colours of Soul (Cvet Dushi) (2011)[98]

Research work on poetry of Abhay K. edit

 
PhD awarded to Amit Dhawan for research on the poetry of Abhay K.

A PhD on "Cultural Construct of Self: A Critical Study of Abhay Kumar's Poetry" was awarded by Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India to Amit Dhawan in 2017.[99][100] Academician Sapna Dogra has written a research paper comparing 'A River'of A.K. Ramanujan and 'Yamuna' of Abhay K.[101][102]

Quotes edit

  • "Whatever be our individual, social or other interests, we should not forget that we have only one cosmic home, Earth."-Abhay K.
  • "We are humans, Earth is our home." - Abhay K.
  • "I was never born, I didn't die."- Abhay K.
  • "United we stand as flora and fauna, united we stand as species of one Earth."- Abhay K.
  • "There is no greater joy in life than the joy of creating something."- Abhay K.
  • "Poetry is an intrinsic need of our species."- Abhay K.[103]
  • "All the people and all the nations, one for all and all for one." -Abhay K.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ UNESCO finds Indian poet-diplomat's idea of an Earth Anthem inspiring, Business Standard, 27 February 2014
  2. ^ Ambassador's Profile Embassy of India Website, Madagascar April 2019
  3. ^ Abhay Kumar appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Madagascar MEA India website November 2018
  4. ^ Abhay Kumar concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Union of the Comoros MEA website, 28 May 2019
  5. ^ a b "A diplomatic web", The New Indian Express, 5 August 2011
  6. ^ Earth anthem in 150+ languages Earth Anthem Website 31 December 2021
  7. ^ World Biodiversity Day: Earth Anthem by Indian poet-diplomat translated into 100 languages Yahoo news, 23 May 2021
  8. ^ UN commemorates Earth Day with ‘Earth Anthem’ penned by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar The Financial Express, 28 April 2020
  9. ^ Nalanda-born diplomat writes anthem on Moon The Times of India, Patna, 9 September 2019.
  10. ^ Ahead of Chandrayaan 2 Landing Poet-Diplomat writes Moon Anthem NDTV, 6 September 2019
  11. ^ Ahead of Chandrayaan-3 landing, poet-diplomat Abhay K pens 'Moon anthem' India Today, 23 August 2023
  12. ^ Poet-diplomat Abhay K pens Sun Anthem ahead of Aditya-L1 launch Hindustan Times, 2 September 2023
  13. ^ Ten anthems for the solar system Scroll.in, 21 December 2020
  14. ^ Indian poet Abhay K. receives warm welcome in the United States Archived 2 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine ANI, 17 October 2018
  15. ^ Poet-diplomat Abhay K's translation of Kalidasa's 'Meghaduta', 'Ritusamhara' win KLF Poetry Book of the Year Award 2020-21 ANI, 9 September 2021
  16. ^ >Abhay K. gets KLF Book Award for ‘The Book of Bihari Literature[permanent dead link] The Print, 25 Feb 2023.
  17. ^ a b K first Indian poet to record poems at Library of Congress[permanent dead link] ANI, 30 August 2018
  18. ^ Revisiting Kashmir: A Survey and Literature and Culture. Cornell University, Fall 2021
  19. ^ Indian literature has much stronger sense of rain and dryness, says Harvard varsity academician The Hindu 27 September 2022
  20. ^ Indian poet Abhay K elected as corresponding member of Academy of Letters of Brazil The Print, 26 Jan 2023
  21. ^ "Diplomat-writer, who pens verse", The Tribune, Chandigarh, 16 December 2012
  22. ^ "Poke your Babus Online" The Times of India, 26 March 2011.
  23. ^ Nepal Rations Fuel as Political Crisis With India Worsens The New York Times, 28 September 2015
  24. ^ India appoints poet-diplomat as Nehru Centre Director in UK Business Standard, 26 March 2015
  25. ^ Abhay K. to head Nehru Centre in London The Hindu, 28 March 2015
  26. ^ Abhay K appointed India's Deputy High Commissioner to Australia Archived 2 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine ANI, 28 September 2015
  27. ^ Abhay Kumar appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Madagascar Ministry of External Affairs of India Website 9 November 2018
  28. ^ IFS officials building their own traditions The Times of India, 10 Oct 2013
  29. ^ Why the world needs International Day of Diplomats, our everyday peacekeepers Daily O, 11 October 2017
  30. ^ First International Day of Diplomats celebrated in Brasilia Business Standard, 25 Oct 2017
  31. ^ Third International Day of Diplomats celebrated in Madagascar Business Standard, 26 October 2019
  32. ^ 4th International Diplomats Day Celebrated Globally Business World 25 Oct 2020
  33. ^ Indian embassy in Madagascar becomes first to go fully solar Mongabay 2nd October, 2020
  34. ^ With Literary Fiction, Biographies & History Books, Street Library Opens At Embassy Of India Antananarivo India Times, 22 Jan 2021
  35. ^ The Hindu Literary Review 2007 The Hindu, 5 August 2007.
  36. ^ In Search of the Writer-Diplomat Tradition RobertFay.com 25 Sept 2020
  37. ^ a b "Enigmatic Love". Issuu.com. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  38. ^ Diplomat Abhay K's book 'The Seduction of Delhi' to be launched at Jaipur Literature Festival DNA, 10 January 2015
  39. ^ The poetics of public places:How poetry from a poet-diplomat can turn into spiritual healing The Kathmandu Post, 1 August 2015
  40. ^ Now, go on a 'Jatra' of poems on Nepal Archived 30 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine IANS, 23 April 2015
  41. ^ Diplomat Abhay K's new poetry collection out, offers fascinating roller coaster ride into Latin America ANI, 25 July 2020
  42. ^ Poetry Salzburg Review Issue 30 PSR website, Issue 30, Autumn 2016
  43. ^ [1] The Asia Literary Review Issue 31, August 2016
  44. ^ [2] Gargoyle Magazine, December 2016
  45. ^ Dara Shikoh and other poems
  46. ^ Poet-diplomat brings Indian poetry to Medellin, Colombia Outlook,12 July 2017
  47. ^ Poets from across the world come together to read poems on capital cities Yahoo News, 7 January 2017
  48. ^ Buenos Aires to get a taste of Indian poetry The Indian Express, 10 June 2016
  49. ^ 100 Great Indian Poems Bloomsbury India, October, 2017
  50. ^ 100 Grandes Poemas da India Cadernos da Literatura em Traducao, USP,25 March 2018
  51. ^ Cien Grandes Poemas de la India UANL website, 16 October 2018
  52. ^ Antologia traduz para o português pérolas da poesia indiana Correio Braziliense, 20 Jan 2018
  53. ^ Entrevista com Abhay K .100 Grandes Poemas da Índia Brasilia in Foco, 12 January 2018
  54. ^ Arabic edition of ‘100 Great Indian Poems’ launched at Sharjah Book Fair The Indian Express, 13 November 2021
  55. ^ "A diplomat is taking Indian poetry to the world through translations of a hundred ‘great poems’",Scroll.in, 21 Jan 2018
  56. ^ This new anthology of love poems from India sweeps through histories, geographies and societies Scroll.in 4 Nov 2020
  57. ^ What Kalidasa teaches us about Lockdown, Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change Madras Courier, 11 April 2020
  58. ^ [3] ICCR website, June 2013
  59. ^ "Indian Diplomat pens anthem for Earth" The New Indian Express, 5 June 2013
  60. ^ "Indian diplomat in Nepal pens the Earth Anthem" Indo-Asian News Service, 27 June 2013
  61. ^ Poet-diplomat's Earth Anthem enlivened by maestro L. Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurthy The Daily Pioneer, 6 June 2017
  62. ^ Earth Day: L Surbramaniam, Abhay K, Kavita Krishnamurti release new anthem on 50th anniversary First Post, 22 April 2010
  63. ^ On Earth Day, over 100 eminent artists from across the world to read ‘Earth Anthem’ penned by senior Indian diplomat The Indian Express, 22md April 2021
  64. ^ Indian diplomat pens "SAARC Anthem" NDTV, 3 December 2013
  65. ^ The Hindu, 4 December 2013
  66. ^ Indian diplomat's poem spurs search for SAARC anthem Hindustan Times, 9 January 2014
  67. ^ Moon Anthem penned by Abhay K. releases ANI, 27 October 2019
  68. ^ Indian diplomat-poet releases video of cosmic anthems to mark great conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn Hindustan Times 22 Dec 2020
  69. ^ Indian Diplomat turned Artist presents his works on Planetary Consciousness, ANI, 28 April 2011
  70. ^ "We have come far", Indrus, 15 April 2011
  71. ^ Art exhibition "We have come far" by Abhay Kumar opened at RCSC, rusembassy.in, 15 April 2011
  72. ^ "A second Life". The Indian Express. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  73. ^ UniVerse: An exhibition of paintings by Abhay K. opens in Madagascar The Print, 2 June 2022
  74. ^ Artists highlight the glory of Delhi through poetry-paintings, Business Standard, 16 September 2014
  75. ^ "1st prize awarded to Abhay Kumar by Amity School of Business". Issuu.com. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  76. ^ a b "IFS officer nominated for coveted Pushcart Prize", 2 December 2012
  77. ^ "Poet Abhay K wins SAARC Literature Award" Archived 23 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Hindustan Times, 14 March 2013
  78. ^ "Five writers honoured at the SAARC Literature Festival" Archived 15 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine, PTI, 11 March 2013
  79. ^ Asia-Pacific Excellence Award to Indian poet-diplomat Abhay K, ANI, 14 October 2014
  80. ^ "Fallen Leaves of Autumn". Issuu.com. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  81. ^ "Candling the Light". CNN-IBN. 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  82. ^ "Diplomat Abhay K. releases his new book Remains". The Indian Express. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  83. ^ "Dream WINDOW". The Hindu. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  84. ^ The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu Archived 3 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Onslaught Press, UK, October 2017
  85. ^ The Alphabets of Latin America Bloomsbury Publications, May 2020
  86. ^ Book Review: The Alphabets of Latin America Financial Express, 28 August 2021
  87. ^ La Magie de Madagascar L'Harmattan, Paris September 2021
  88. ^ Book Review : The Magic of Madagascar Financial Express, 07 September 2021
  89. ^ Monsoon Sahitya Akademi, 15 March 2022
  90. ^ Meghaduta Bloomsbury Publishing, February 2021
  91. ^ Contemporary Indian English Poetry Enchanting Verses Literary Review, November 2015
  92. ^ CAPITALS Bloomsbury Publishing, 18 December 2016
  93. ^ Great Indian Poems[permanent dead link] Bloomsbury Publishing, October, 2017
  94. ^ 100 More Great Indian Poems Bloomsbury Publishing, March 2019
  95. ^ Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems[permanent dead link] Bloomsbury Publishing November 2019
  96. ^ New Brazilian Poems Ibis Libris Publishing February 2020
  97. ^ "10 Questions of the Soul". Issuu.com. 4 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  98. ^ "Цвет души". Issuu.com. 17 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  99. ^ Cultural Construct of Self: A Critical Study of Abhay Kumar's Poetry Shodhganga Website, 2017
  100. ^ Indian Varsity awards PhD on poet's poetry ANI 31 July 2018
  101. ^ A.K. Ramanujan's 'A River' and Abhay K's 'Yamuna': River as a Symbol of Endless Flow of Meanings ResearchGate, February 2020
  102. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339270843_APPROACHING_ABHAY_K%27S_THE_SEDUCTION_OF_DELHI_A_STUDY_OF_MAJOR_THEMES Approaching Abhay K.'s The Seduction of Delhi: A Study of Major Themes
  103. ^ *"Poetry is an intrinsic need of our species," says Ambassador Abhay Kumar The Diplomat 4 February 2021

External links edit

  • The curious connection between poetry and diplomacy
  • Abhay K.'s interview to The Diplomat, Asia Pacific
  • Abhay K.'s recording of his poems at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
  • A diplomat is taking Indian poetry to the world through translations of a hundred ‘ great poems’ Scroll.in
  • In search of the Writer-Diplomat tradition RobertFay.com
  • How an Indian diplomat created an anthology of poetry on the world's capitals Scroll.in
  • The Sage Indian of Brasilia: Chandrahas Choudhury profiles Abhay K. Mint Lounge
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