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{{Short description|Indian writer and poet (1939–2023)}}
{{multiple issues|
{{more citations needed|date=October 2023}}
{{citation style|date=October 2012}}
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{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Malay Roy Choudhury
| image = Malay Roychoudhury in Holland.JPG
| alt =
| caption = Roy Choudhury in [[Amsterdam]], 2009
| native_name = মলয় রায়চৌধুরী
| native_name_lang = bn
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1939|10|29}}
| birth_place = [[Patna]], [[Bihar Province]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2023|10|26|1939|10|29}}
| death_place = [[British India]]n (1939–1947)<br>Indian (1947–2023)
| other_names =
| citizenship = Indian
| education =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Poet, writer and journalist
| years_active = (1961–2023)
| known_for =
| notable_works = 
| movement = [[Postmodernism]] and [[Hungryalism]]
| spouse = Shalila Roy Choudhury
| children = {{plainlist|
* Anushree Prashant (daughter)
* Jitendra (son)
}}
| parents = 
| mother = Amita (1916–1982)
| father = Ranjit Roy Choudhury (1909–1991)
| relatives = {{plainlist|
* [[Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury]] (grandfather)
* [[Samir Roychoudhury]] (brother)
}}
| family = [[Sabarna Roy Choudhury]]
| awards = [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (2003; refused)
| signature = মলয় রায়চৌধুরীর স্বাক্ষর.svg
}}

'''Malay Roy Choudhury''' (29 October 1939 – 26 October 2023) was an Indian [[Bengal]]i poet, playwright, short story writer, essayist and novelist who founded the [[Hungry generation|Hungryalist movement]] in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roychoudhury |first=Malay |title=Interview with Malay Roychoudhury |url=https://www.academia.edu/36190875}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Malay Roy Choudhury was born in [[Patna]], Bihar, India, into the [[Sabarna Roy Choudhury]] clan, which owned the villages that became [[Kolkata]]. He grew up in Patna's Imlitala ghetto, which was mainly inhabited by [[Dalit]] Hindus and [[Shia Islam|Shia Muslims]]. His was the only Bengali family. His father, Ranjit Roy Choudhury (1909–1991) was a photographer in Patna; his mother, Amita (1916–1982), was from a progressive family of the 19th-century [[Bengali Renaissance]]. His grandfather, [[Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury]], was a photographer in Kolkata who had been trained by [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s father, the curator of the [[Lahore Museum]].

At the age of three, Roy Choudhury was admitted to a local Catholic school, and later, he was sent to the Rammohan Roy Seminary [[Oriental Seminary]]. The school was administered by the [[Brahmo Samaj]] movement, a [[Monotheism|monotheistic religion]] founded in 1830 in Kolkata by Ram Mohun Roy, who aimed to purify [[Hinduism]] and recover the simple worship of the [[Vedas]]. There, Roy Choudhury met student-cum-librarian Namita Chakraborty, who introduced him to [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit]] and [[Bengali literature|Bengali]] classics. All religious activities were banned at the school, and Roy Choudhury has said that his childhood experience made him instinctively [[Secularity|secular]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interview with Malay Roychoudhury, Poet of Hungryalism {{!}} City Lights Booksellers & Publishers |url=https://citylights.com/interview-with-malay-roychoudhury-poet-of-hungryalism/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Maitreyee B Chowdhury |title=The Hungry Man: Malay Roychoudhury |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/culture-society/the-hungry-man-malay-roychoudhury-news-327012 |access-date=30 October 2023}}</ref>

== Hungryalist movement ==
{{main|Hungryalism}}
The Hungryalist movement was initially led by Malay; his brother, [[Samir Roychoudhury]]; [[Shakti Chattopadhyay]]; and Haradhon Dhara, known by his pseudonym [[Debi Roy]]. Thirty more poets and artists subsequently joined them, the best-known being [[Rajkamal Chaudhary]], [[Binoy Majumdar]], Utpal Kumar Basu, [[Falguni Roy]], [[Subimal Basak]], [[Tridib Mitra]], [[Rabindra Guha]], and [[Anil Karanjai]]. The movement's English name was derived from [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s line "in the sowre hungry tyme", and its philosophy was based on [[Oswald Spengler]]'s "[[The Decline of the West]]".<ref>{{Cite web |last=H |first=Sara |date=2021-06-08 |title=The Rebel Poets Of 1960's Bengal |url=https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-explore/malay-roychoudhury-and-bengals-hungry-generation-of-anarchist-writers |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Homegrown |language=en}}</ref>

Hungryalism petered out in 1965, when the [[West Bengal]] government issued arrest warrants for eleven Hungryalists, including Roy Choudhury and his brother. Some members, such as Subhash Ghosh and Saileshwar Ghosh, testified against Roy Choudhury in Kolkata's Bankshall Court. He was jailed for a month for his poem [[Stark Electric Jesus]] by Kolkata [[Bankshall Court]] in 1966. However he was exonerated by the Kolkata High Court in 1967. From the letters of [[Sunil Gangopadhyay]] written to [[Sandipan Chattopadhyay]] during 1964 published recently it is known that [[Sunil Gangopadhyay]] felt that [[Hungry generation]] literary movement was a threat to his [[Krittibas (magazine)|Krittibas]] group of poets of 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=পাল |first=শুভম |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_YLEAAAQBAJ&dq=%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC+%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%9A%E0%A7%8C%E0%A6%A7%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%80&pg=PA193 |title=সমান্তরাল সাহিত্য পত্রিকা ( দীপাবলি সংখ্যা ): প্রথম বর্ষ, পঞ্চম সংখ্যা |date=2020-11-30 |publisher=সমান্তরাল সাহিত্য পত্রিকা |language=bn}}</ref>

[[Howard McCord]], a professor of English at [[Washington State University]] and [[Bowling Green University]] who met Roy Choudhury during a visit to Kolkata, wrote in ''City Lights Journal Number Three'': "Malay Roy Choudhury, a Bengali poet, has been a central figure in the Hungry Generation's attack on the Indian cultural establishment since the movement began in the early 1960s. ... Acid, destructive, morbid, nihilistic, outrageous, mad, hallucinatory, shrill—these characterize the terrifying and cleansing visions" that "Indian literature must endure if it is to be vital again."

Both the [[Bangla Academy (Bangladesh)|Bangla Academy]] and [[Northwestern University]] have archives of Roy Choudhury's Hungryalist publications.

Roy Choudhury wrote three drama during the [[Hungryalism]] movement: ''Illot'', ''Napungpung'' and ''Hibakusha'', considered to be a mash-up of the [[Theatre of the Absurd]] and [[Transhumanism]].

== Poetry and translations ==
[[File:Poet Malay.jpg|thumb|Roy Choudhury in 2009]]
With his 1963 poem "Prachanda Baidyutik Chhutar" ("[[Stark Electric Jesus]]"), which prompted the government's actions against the Hungryalists, Roy Choudhury introduced [[Confessional poetry]] to Bengali literature. The poem defied traditional forms (e.g., [[sonnet]], [[villanelle]], [[minnesang]], [[pastourelle]], [[canzone]], etc.), as well as Bengali [[Metre (poetry)|meters]] (e.g., matrabritto and aksharbritto). His poem "Jakham" is better known and has been translated into multiple languages.

His best-known poetry collections are ''Medhar Batanukul Ghungur'', ''Naamgandho'', and ''Illot'', and a complete collection of his poems was published in 2005. He has written about 60 books since he launched the Hungryalist movement in November 1961.

Roy Choudhury also translated into [[Bengali language|Bengali]] works by [[William Blake]] ("[[The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]]"), [[Arthur Rimbaud]] ("[[A Season in Hell]]"), [[Tristan Tzara]] ([[Dada]] manifestos and poems), [[André Breton]]'s [[Surrealism]] manifesto and poems, [[Jean Cocteau]] ("Crucifixion"), [[Blaise Cendrars]] ("Trans-Siberian Express"), and [[Allen Ginsberg]] ("[[Howl (poem)|Howl]]" and "[[Kaddish (poem)|Kaddish]]"). He has also translated [[Paul Celan]]'s famous poem "[[Death Fugue]]".

Roy Choudhury wrote extensively on the life and works of [[Allen Ginsberg]], [[Henry Miller]], [[James Joyce]], [[Charles Baudelaire]], [[Jean Arthur Rimbaud]], [[Osip Mandelstam]], [[Marcel Proust]] and [[Anna Akhmatova]].

In 2003, he was given the [[Sahitya Academy]] award, the Indian government's highest honour in the field, for translating [[Dharamvir Bharati]]'s ''Suraj Ka Satwan Ghora''.<ref name="Project MUSE">{{cite journal |title=About the Playwright and Translator |date=2010|journal=Manoa|volume=22|issue=1|publisher= University of Hawai'i Press|pages=142–143|doi=10.1353/man.0.0086}}</ref> However, he declined to accept this award and others.

== Adhunantika phase ==
In 1995, Roy Choudhury's writings, both poetry and fiction, took a dramatic turn. A linguist, [[Probal Dasgupta]], dubbed this the Adhunantika Phase (Bengali: অধুনান্তিক পর্ব), a [[portmanteau]] of two Bengali words: ''adhuna'', meaning "new", "current", "contemporary", or "modern", and ''antika'', meaning "closure", "end", "extreme", or "beyond". His poetry collections from this phase are ''Chitkar Samagra, Chhatrakhan, Ja Lagbey Bolben, Atmadhangser Sahasrabda, Postmodern Ahlader Kobita'', and ''Kounaper Luchimangso''. His novels from the period include ''Namgandho, Jalanjali, Nakhadanta, Ei Adham Oi Adham'', and ''Arup Tomar Entokanta''.

During this phase Roy Choudhury wrote several poetic dramas which were a mash-up of [[Postmodernism]] and [[Transhumanism]].

After Roy Choudhury shifted to Mumbai from Calcutta he ventured into [[Magic realism]] and wrote novels such as ''Labiyar Makdi'', ''Chashomranger Locha'', ''Thek Shuturmurg'', ''Jungle Romio'', ''Necropurush'' and ''Naromangshokadhoker Halnagad''.

In 2014 Roy Choudhury wrote his autobiography in his distinct style titled ''Rahuketu''.

== Personal life ==
[[Image:Malay & Shalila in Den Haag.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Roy Choudhury with his wife, Shalila, in [[The Hague]] in 2009]]
Roy Choudhury lived in [[Mumbai]] with his wife, Shalila, who was a [[field hockey]] player from [[Nagpur]]. Their daughter, Anushree Prashant, lives in [[Dubai]] with her husband and two daughters; his son Jitendra lives in [[Riyadh]] with his wife Sudipta.

Roy Choudhury died on 26 October 2023, at the age of 83.<ref>{{cite news |title=চলে গেলেন হাংরি আন্দোলনের জনক সাহিত্যিক মলয় রায়চৌধুরী |url=https://www.sangbadpratidin.in/entertainment/event/hungarian-revolution-pioneer-poet-malay-roychoudhury-passes-away/ |access-date=26 October 2023 |publisher=Sangbad Pratidin |date=26 October 2023}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
A 2014 film based on Roy Choudhury's poem [[Stark Electric Jesus]] was directed by Mrigankasekhar Ganguly and Hyash Tanmoy. It was an official selection at 20 international film festivals in 15 countries. The film won "Best Video Art" in Poland, "Most Promising Video Artist" in Spain, and "Best Fantasy Film" in Serbia.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ebela.in/details/22366-154859328.html |title= কম বাজেটের প্রতিবাদ |date= 23 September 2014|work=ebela |publisher= ABP Group |access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.anandabazar.com/district/southkorcha/%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%B7-%E0%A6%A3-%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A1-%E0%A6%9A-1.81966 |title= মলয় বিদ্যুৎ|date= 29 October 2014|work=Anandabazar Patrika |publisher= ABP Group |access-date=29 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.epaper.eisamay.com/Details.aspx?id=14130&boxid=41841812|title=কয়েক জন কলেজ পড়ুয়া|date=6 October 2014|work=ei samay|publisher=Times Group|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-date=17 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417122857/http://www.epaper.eisamay.com/Details.aspx?id=14130&boxid=41841812|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Srijit Mukherji]] directed a film in 2011 titled ''[[Baishe Srabon]]'', in which Roy Choudhury's poetry was used many times.

== Sources and references ==
*''Malay Roy Choudhury-r Bitarka'', edited by Madhusudan Roy. [[Barnik Prakashon]], Bardhaman, West Bengal, India (2018).
*''Malay Roy Choudhury Compendium'', edited by A.M. Murshid. Avishkar Prakashani, Kolkata, India (2002).
*''Hungryalist Interviews of Malay Roy Choudhury'', edited by Ajit Ray. Mahadiganta Publishers, Kolkata (1999).
*''Postmodern Interviews of Malay Roychoudhury'', edited by Arabinda Pradhan. Graffiti Publishers, Kolkata (2004).
*''Van Tulsi Ki Gandh'', by Phanishwarnath Renu. Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi, India (1984).
*''Hungry Shruti & Shastravirodhi Andolon'', by Uttam Das. Mahadiganta Publishers, Kolkata (1986).
*''Shater Dashaker Kabita'', by Mahmud Kamal. Shilpataru Prakashani, Dhaka, Bangladesh (1991).
*''Hungry-Adhunantik Malay'', edited by Ratan Biswas. Ahabkal Publications, Kolkata (2002).
*''Salted Feathers'', edited by Dick Bakken. Portland, Oregon (1967).
*''Intrepid'', edited by Carl Weissner. Buffalo, New York (1968).
*''English Letters to Malay'', edited by Tridib Mitra. Hungry Books, Howrah, India (1968).
*''Bangla Letters to Malay'', edited by Alo Mitra. Hungry Books, Howrah (1969).
*''SWAPNA'' (Malay Roy Choudhury Special Issue, 15th Year, #1), edited by Bishnu Dey. Nabin Chandra College, Assam (2008).
*''Sambhar: Malay Roy Choudhury Interview'', by Amitava Deb. Sambhar Publications, Silchar, Assam, India (2008).
*''Savarna Barta:'' ''Hungryalist Movement and Sabarna Roy Choudhury Clan'', by Sonali Mukherjee. Tarkeshwar College, Kolkata (2008).
*''Bodh:'' ''Malay Roy Choudhury's Poetry'', by Uttam Chakraborty. Rupnarayanpur, West Bengal, India (2008).
*''Stark Electric Jesus'', with foreword by Howard McCord. Tribal Press (1965).

== Selected works ==
'''English'''

''Stark Electric Jesus'', with introduction by Howard McCord, Tribal Press, Washington DC, 1965.

''Autobiography'', CAAS #14 and 215, Gale Research Inc., Ohio, 1980.

''Selected Poems'', with introduction by P. Lal, Writers Workshop, Kolkata, 1989.

''Hattali'' (long poem), Mahadiganta Publishers, Kolkata, 1989.

''Overview: Postmodern Bangla Poetry'' (non-fiction), Haowa 49 Publishers, Kolkata, 2001.

''Overview: Postmodern Bangla Short Stories'' (non-fiction), Haowa 49 Publishers, Kolkata, 2001.

'''Bengali'''

''Shoytaner Mukh'' (Collected Poems), Krittibas Prakashani, Kolkata, 1963.

''Hungry Andoloner Kavyadarshan'' (Hungryalist Manifesto), Debi Ray, Howrah, 1965.

''Jakham'' (long poem), Zebra Publications, Kolkata, 1966.

''Kabita Sankalan'' (collection of Hungryalist poems), Mahadiganta Publishers, Kolkata, 1986.

''Chitkarsamagra'' (postmodern poems), Kabita Pakshik, Kolkata, 1995.

''Chhatrakhan'' (postmodern poems), Kabitirtha Publishers, Kolkata, 1995.

''Allen Ginsberg's Kaddish'' (translation)'','' Kabitirtha Publishers, Kolkata, 1995.

''Ja Lagbey Bolben'' (postmodern poems), Kaurab Prakashani, Jamshedpur, 1996.

''Tristan Tzara's Poems'' (translation)'','' Kalimati Publishers, Jamshedpur, 1996.

''Allen Ginsberg's Howl'' (translation), Kabita Pakshik, Kolkata, 1996.

''Jean Cocteau's Cricifixion'' (translation), Kabita Pakshik, Kolkata, 1996.

''Blaise Cendrar's Trans-Siberian Express'' (translation), Amritalok Prakashani, Midnapur, 1997.

''A'' (deconstruction of 23 poems), Kabita Pakshik, Kolkata, 1998.

''Autobiography of Paul Gauguin'' (translation), Graffiti Publishers, Kolkata, 1999.

''Jean Arthur Rimbaud'' (critique), Kabitirtha Publishers, Kolkata, 1999.

''Life of Allen Ginsberg'' (non-fiction), Kabitirtha Prakashani, Kolkata, 2000.

''Atmadhangsher Sahasrabda'' (collected poems), Graffiti Publishers, Kolkata, 2000.

''Bhennogalpo'' (collection of postmodern short stories), Dibaratrir Kavya, Kolkata, 1996.

''Dubjaley Jetuku Prashwas'' (novel), Haowa 49 Publishers, 1994.

''Jalanjali'' (novel), Raktakarabi Publishers, Kolkata, 1996.

''Naamgandho'' (novel), Sahana Publishers, Dhaka, 1999.

''Natoksamagra'' (collection of plays), Kabitirtha Prakashani, Kolkata, 1998.

''Hungry Kimvadanti'' (Hungryalist memoir), Dey Books, Kolkata, 1994.

''Postmodernism'' (non-fiction), Haowa#49 Publishers, Kolkata, 1995.

''Adhunikatar Biruddhey Kathavatra'' (non-fiction), Kabita Pakshik, Kolkata, 1999.

''Hungryalist Interviews'' (edited by Ajit Ray), Mahadiganta Publishers, Kolkata, 1999.

''Postmodern Kalkhando O Bangalir Patan'' (non-fiction), Khanan Publishers, Nagpur, 2000.

''Ei Adham Oi Adham'' (novel), Kabitirtha Publishers, Kolkata, 2001.

''Nakhadanta'' (postmodern novel), Haowa 49 Publishers, Kolkata, 2001.

''Poems: 2004-1961'' (collection of poems), Avishkar Prakashani, Kolkata, 2005.

== See also ==
*[[Sabarna Roy Choudhury]]
*[[Hungry generation]]
*[[Samir Roychoudhury]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Malay Roy Choudhury}}
* {{IMDb name}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Malay Roy}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali male poets]]
[[Category:Bengali-language poets]]
[[Category:Hungry generation]]
[[Category:Indian male novelists]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Oriental Seminary alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Patna]]
[[Category:Poets from Bihar]]
[[Category:Indian postmodern writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Novelists from Bihar]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengali poets]]
[[Category:English–Bengali translators]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]]

Malay Roy Choudhury - Revision history

Maryslanker at 19:05, 19 April 2026