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{{Short description|Indian writer (born 1947)}}
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{{BLP sources|date=September 2008}}
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[[File:Arvind Krishna Mehrotra at his Dehradun home - 2018.jpg|thumb|Arvind Krishna Mehrotra at his Dehradun home, May 2018. ]]
'''Arvind Krishna Mehrotra''' (born 1947<ref>{{cite LCAuth|id=n86138256}}</ref>) is an Indian [[poet]], [[anthologist]], [[literary critic]] and [[translation|translator]].

== Biography ==
Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was born in [[Lahore]] in 1947. He has published six collections of [[poetry]] in English and two of [[translation]] — a volume of Prakrit love poems, ''The Absent Traveller'', recently reissued in Penguin Classics, and ''[[Songs of Kabir]]'' ([[NYRB Classics]]). His ''Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets'' (1992) has been very influential. He has edited several books, including ''History of Indian Literature in English'' ([[Columbia University Press]], 2003) and ''Collected Poems in English'' by Arun Kolatkar ([[Bloodaxe Books]], 2010). His collection of essays ''Partial Recall: Essays on Literature and Literary History'' was published by Permanent Black in 2012. A second book of essays, ''Translating the Indian Past'' (Permanent Black), appeared in 2019.

Mehrotra was nominated for the post of Professor of Poetry at the [[University of Oxford]] in 2009.<ref>[http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=15316&x=1 Biography at Poetry International Web] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128082419/http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=15316&x=1 |date=28 January 2010 }}</ref> He came second behind [[Ruth Padel]], who later resigned over allegations of a smear campaign against Trinidadian poet [[Derek Walcott]] (who had himself earlier withdrawn from the election process).<ref>{{cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Indians-Abroad/Arvind-Mehrotra-loses-Oxfords-Professor-of-Poetry-election/articleshow/4541378.cms | work=The Times Of India | title=Arvind Mehrotra loses Oxford's Professor of Poetry election - The Times of India}}</ref><ref name="Soofi 2014">{{cite web | last=Soofi | first=Mayank Austen | title=Arvind Krishna Mehrotra: Allahabad's prodigal poet | website=Livemint | date=29 November 2014 | url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/NBAFvOxrFLQKFtvOeoXvPM/Arvind-Krishna-Mehrotra-Allahabads-prodigal-poet.html | accessdate=9 February 2017}}</ref>

Mehrotra has translated more than 200 literary works from ancient [[Prakrit]] language, and from [[Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]].<ref>{{cite news|title="Academia In India Is Not Something About Which You Can Have Any Illusions": An Interview With Arvind Krishna Mehrotra|url=http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/interview-with-arvind-krishna-mehrotra|date=13 January 2016|publisher=[[The Caravan]]|first=Ishan|last=Marvel}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==

=== Poetry collections ===
*Mehrotra, A. K. (1984). Middle earth. [[Three Crowns Books]]. Delhi: [[Oxford University Press]].
*Mehrotra, A. K. (1976). Nine enclosures. Bombay: Clearing House.
*Mehrotra, A. K. (1982). Distance in statute miles. Bombay: Clearing House.
*Mehrotra, A K. (1998). The transfiguring places: poems. Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publisher.
*Mehrotra, A. K. (2014). Collected Poems 1969-2014. Delhi: [[Penguin India]].
*Mehrotra, A. K. (2016). Collected Poems. Artarmon NSW: Giramondo.
*Mehrotra, A.K. (2020) Selected Poems and Translations/NYRB Poets. New York: New York Review Books.

=== Edited books ===

*Mehrotra, A. K. (2003). History of Indian literature in English. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Columbia University Press]].
*Mehrotra, A. K. (1992). The Oxford India anthology of twelve modern Indian poets. Delhi: Oxford University Press. [http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/books/mehrotra-1993-oxford-india-anthology.html excerpts]
**Translated into German as Mehrotra, A. K. (2006). Indische Dichter der Gegenwart eine Anthologie englischsprachiger Lyrik Indiens. Heidelberg: Verl. Das Wunderhorn.
*Weissbort, D., & Mehrotra, A. K. (1993). Periplus: poetry in translation. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
*Mehrotra, A. K. (2007). The last bungalow: writings on Allahabad. [[New Delhi]]: [[Penguin Books]].

=== Translation ===

*Mehrotra, A. K. (1991). The Absent Traveller: Prākrit love poetry from the Gāthāsaptaśatī of Sātavāhana Hāla. Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publisher.
*Mehrotra, A. K. (2011). [[Songs of Kabir]]. New York: NYRB Classics.
*Mehrotra, A.K. with [[Sara Rai]] (2019). Blue Is Like Blue: Stories by Vinod Kumar Shukla. Delhi: HarperCollins.

=== Editor of literary magazines ===
* ''damn you/a magazine of the arts.'' [[Allahabad]], [[India]]: 1964-1968.
*''Ezra.'' Bombay, India: Ezra-Fakir Press, 1966-1969.
*''Fakir.'' Bombay, India: Ezra-Fakir Press, 1966.

==See also==
{{portal|Biography|India|Literature|Poetry|}}
*[[Indian English Poetry]]
*[[Indian poetry in English]]
*[[Indian English Literature]]
*[[Indian literature]]
*[[List of Indian poets]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* Poetry Centre, Smith College [http://www.smith.edu/poetrycenter/poets/amehrotra.html ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100128082419/http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=15316&x=1 Poems and Bio at Poetry International Web]
* Interview with Bharat Iyer [http://www.eclectica.org/v17n1/iyer.html An Interview with Arvind Krishna Mehrotra—by Bharat Iyer—Eclectica Magazine v16n2]
* Poetry Archive [http://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/arvind-krishna-mehrotra Arvind Krishna Mehrotra]
* Interview with Laetitia Zecchini, '[https://www.academia.edu/39141796/_We_were_like_cartographers_mapping_the_city_An_interview_with_Arvind_Krishna_Mehrotra We were like Cartographers, Mapping the City]', Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 2017
* Guide to the Arvind Krishna Mehrotra Papers 1960-2014 [https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM08511.html Guide to the Arvind Krishna Mehrotra papers, 1960-2014.]

==Further reading==
Among the published works giving an analysis of his poetry are:
*Lakshmi Raghunandan. (1990). Contemporary Indian poetry in English: with special emphasis on [[Nissim Ezekiel]], Kamala Das, [[R. Parthasarathy]], and A.K. Ramanujan : other poets assessed are [[Arun Kolatkar]], [[Shiv K. Kumar]], [[Keki N. Daruwalla]], [[Jayanta Mahapatra]], and Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. New Delhi: Reliance Pub. House.

Bruce King, (1987, revised edition 2001) Modern Indian Poetry in English. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

He is interviewed in the following works:
*De Souza, E. (1999). Talking poems: conversations with poets. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

;Reviews :
*{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-songs-of-kabir-by-translated-by-arvind-krishna-mehrotra.html?_r=1| title=Rebirth of a Poet| work=The New York Times| author=August Kleinzahler| date= 27 May 2011}}

==External links==
*[https://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/arvind-krishna-mehrotra Arvind Krishna Mehrotra] at the [[Poetry Archive]]
*[https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/poet/15316 Arvind Krishna Mehrotra] at [[Poetry International Web|Poetry International]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehrotra, Arvind Krishna}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:English-language Indian poets]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:International Writing Program alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Translators from Bengali]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian translators]]
[[Category:Translators from Gujarati]]
[[Category:Translators from Hindi]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra - Revision history

FWQGina861152045 at 15:52, 16 October 2025