Rana Nayar | |
|---|---|
 Nayar in 2016. | |
| Born | 1957 (age 67–68) |
| Nationality | Punjabi |
| Occupation | Translator |
Rana Nayar (born 1957)[1] is a translator ofpoetry and short fiction fromPunjabi to English.[2] He has more than forty volumes of poetry and translation works to his credit. He is also a theatre artist and has participated in a number of major full-length productions. He wonSahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee prize for his English translation of thePunjabi devotional poetry ofSaint Baba Farid.
Nayar taught English literature atSt Bede's College inShimla from 1980 to 1990. In 1990 he joinedPanjab University,Chandigarh, where he became Professor and Head of the Department of English and Cultural Studies.[3] He has also served as visiting professor withPeter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.[4]
A critic, scholar and translator, Rana Nayar has been a pioneer in bringing intoPunjabi translation a great number of classics from Punjabi literature. Among the prominent Punjabi authors he has translated are included such literary giants as Gurdial Singh,[5] Raghubir Dhand, Mohan Bhandari and Beeba Balwant inter alia. He has translated three of Gurdial's novels,Night of the Half-moon,Parsa andAlms in the Name of a Blind Horse. He has also translated 14 short stories by Gurdial under the titleËarthy Tones.[6]
Besides translating the works of such prominent women writers fromPunjab such asAmrita Pritam, Ajit Caur and Dalip Kaur Tiwana, he has helped in bringing to public notice such lesser known writers as Chandan Negi, who writes in both Punjabi andDogri. Rana Nayar was instrumental in revival of interest in Gurdial Singh's novels and short stories.[7]
His first collection of poems (composed by himself) is titledBreathing Spaces, which has received critical review and appreciation in Indian literary circle.
Rana Nayar's critical works on poetry include "Edward Albee: Towards a Typology of Relationships" published in 2003 by Prestige Publishers. His other critical works which are forthcoming include"Mediations: Self & Society", which is a collection of essays on Indian history, society and culture, and"Third World Narrative : Theory & Practice". He has made seminal contribution to historical analysis of Indian literary translation.[8]
Rana Nayar has been a Charles Wallace (India) Trust Awardee, besides having won commendation awards for translation fromBritish Council andKatha. In 2007 he wonSahitya Akademi's Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Prize for Poetry. Rana Nayar is also on the editorial board of the prestigious Lakeview International Journal of Literature & Arts.[9]
