LuciaStonor at 12:58, 17 March 2026

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{{Short description|Indian poet (born 1953)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Manohar Shetty
| embed =
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| image = Manohar Shetty, Poet, Goa. 2.jpg
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| alt = Manohar Shetty.
| caption = Shetty in 2017
| native_name =
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| birth_date = {{bya|1953}}
| birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[Bombay State]], India
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| occupation = Writer, poet, editor
| language = English
| education =
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| period =
| genre = Poetry, short story, anthology
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| notableworks = ''Ferry Crossings''; work included in ''The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets''.
| spouse = Devika Sequeira
| partner = 
| children = 2
| relatives =
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| signature =
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| years_active = 1981–present
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}}

'''Manohar Shetty''' (born 1953)<ref>{{cite web|title=Manohar Shetty|url=http://openspaceindia.org/express/talking-poetry/item/biographical-note.html|website=Open Space|publisher=OpenSpaceIndia.org|access-date=6 March 2017|archive-date=7 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045219/http://openspaceindia.org/express/talking-poetry/item/biographical-note.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> is an Indian poet, writer, and literary editor based in [[Goa]], India. He is considered as one of the prominent Indian poets writing in the [[English language]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ|title=Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English|last1=Benson|first1=Eugene|last2=Conolly|first2=L. W.|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134468485|pages=1438|language=en}}</ref>

He has been a Senior Fellow with the [[Sahitya Akademi]], the Indian academy of arts and letters, and his work is found in several anthologies, including ''The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tejpal|first1=Tarun J.|title=The new literary map|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19920815-book-review-twelve-modern-indian-poets-by-arvind-krishna-mehrotra-766731-2013-01-03|website=indiatoday.intoday.in|publisher=India Today|access-date=7 March 2017}}</ref> edited by [[Arvind Krishna Mehrotra]] and anthologies edited by [[Eunice de Souza]], [[Vilas Sarang]] and [[Jeet Thayil]].

==Early life==
Manohar Shetty was born in [[Bombay]] and educated in [[Panchgani]].<ref name="Entry for Manohar Shetty">"[https://books.google.com/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Manohar%20Shetty%22&pg=PA1438 Entry for Manohar Shetty]," Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English by Eugene Benson, Routledge, 2004, p. 1438.</ref> He graduated from Bombay University in 1974 and began working as a journalist.<ref name="Entry for Manohar Shetty"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h7IDmx_v5YEC|title=The English Language Poetry of South Asians: A Critical Study|last1=Wong|first1=Mitali Pati|last2=Hassan|first2=Syed Khwaja Moinul|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786436224|pages=76|language=en}}</ref>

==Critical perspectives==
Shetty's poetry is seen as being an integral part of the "chronology of modern Indian English poetry."<ref>"The Third Generation: Melanie Silgardo and Manohar Shetty," chapter 21 of ''A History of Indian Poetry in English'' by Rosinka Chaudhuri, Cambridge University Press, 2016.</ref><ref>"The Third Generation: Melanie Silgardo and Manohar Shetty," chapter 21 of A History of Indian Poetry in English by Rosinka Chaudhuri, Cambridge University Press, 2016.</ref> His poetry is described as revelling in "the celebration of the sombre" and being filled with "sepulchral images" while their "mood is predominantly one of helplessness and lethargy."<ref name="Entry for Manohar Shetty"/>

Shetty is listed in Sudeep Sen's essay "New Indian Poetry: The 1990s Perspective", published in ''World Literature Today'', Vol. 68, No. 2.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sen|first1=Sudeep|title=New Indian Poetry: The 1990s Perspective|journal=World Literature Today|year=1994|volume= 68|issue= 2|page=276|doi=10.2307/40150142|jstor=40150142 }}{{Subscription required}}</ref> K. Narayana Chandran of the [[University of Hyderabad]], while reviewing<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chandran|first1=K. Narayana|journal=World Literature Today|title=Review-Domestic Creatures by Manohar Shetty|date=Autumn 1995|volume=69|issue=4|page=875|doi=10.2307/40151820|jstor=40151820 }}{{Subscription required}}</ref> Shetty's ''Domestic Creatures'' in ''World Literature Today'', comments: "To be able to write magnificently about the little world one knows – and what passionate care all this involves – is no small gift for a poet. Manohar Shetty is an eminently gifted poet in this sense."

In another review<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Amanuddin|first1=S.|journal=World Literature Today|date=Autumn 1982|volume=56|issue=4|title=Review-A Guarded Space by Manohar Shetty|page= 758|doi=10.2307/40138461|jstor=40138461 }}{{Subscription required}}</ref> of Shetty's ''A Guarded Space'', in 1982 in the same journal ([[World Literature Today]]), S. Amanuddin is more critical. [[New Delhi]]-based magazine [[Caravan (Indian magazine)|Caravan]] described Shetty as "something of a rarity among [[Indian English]] [[poets]] of his and preceding generations, who have tended to be rather less consistent in their output."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sharanya|title=Private Eye: The strange, sensuous world of Manohar Shetty's poetry|url=http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reviews-essays/private-eye|website=caravanmagazine.in|publisher=Caravan Magazine|access-date=7 March 2017}}</ref>

==Poetry volumes==
As of 2017, he has published eight volumes of poetry. They are:

* ''Morning Light''. Delhi: [[Copper Coin]], 2016
* ''Personal Effects'', Delhi: [[Copper Coin]], 2015<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BW78wQEACAAJ|title=Personal Effects|last=Shetty|first=Manohar|date=2015|publisher=Copper Coin|isbn=9789384109066|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Living Rooms'', New Delhi: [[HarperCollins]], 2014<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ubLRBgAAQBAJ|title=Living Room: Poems|last=Shetty|first=Manohar|date=2014|publisher=Harper Collins|isbn=9789351369776|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Creatures Great and Small'', Delhi: Copper Coin, 2014<ref>{{cite web|title=Manohar Shetty|url=http://poetrywithprakriti.in/manohar-shetty/|website=Poetry with Prakriti 2016|publisher=Poetry With Prakriti (Chennai)|access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref>
* ''Body Language'', Mumbai: [[Poetrywala]], 2012
* ''Domestic Creatures: Poems'', New Delhi: [[Oxford University Press]], 1994<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2RqQgAACAAJ|title=Domestic Creatures: Poems|last=Shetty|first=Manohar|date=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195634549|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Borrowed Time'', Bombay: Praxis, 1988
* ''A Guarded Space'', Bombay: Newground, 1981

==Books edited==
* ''Ferry Crossing – Short Stories from Goa'', New Delhi: Penguin India, 1998<ref name="DailyO" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bxGb6zaAl8kC|title=Ferry Crossing: Short Stories From Goa|last=Shetty|first=Manohar|date=2000|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=9789351181156|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Goa Travels, Being the Accounts of Travellers to Goa from the 16th to the 20th Century'', New Delhi: Rupa, 2014<ref name="DailyO" />
* Special edition on English language poets of India for ''Poetry Wales''.

==Fellowships awarded==
Earlier, he has been a [[Homi Bhaba Fellow]] and a Senior [[Sahitya Akademi]] Fellow.

==Translations, evaluation of work==
His work has been translated into [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[German language|German]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Marathi language|Marathi]] and [[Slovene language|Slovenian]].

Evaluations of his work have been included in ''Modern Indian Poetry in English'' (New Delhi: OUP, 1987, 2011, Bruce King Ed.) and ''An Illustrated History of Indian Literature in English'' (New Delhi: Permanent Black, 2003, [[Arvind Krishna Mehrotra]], Ed.).

His work has appeared in ''The Baffler'' (US), the ''London Magazine'', ''Poetry Review'', ''Poetry Wales'', ''Wasafiri'', ''Chelsea'' (US), ''Rattapallax'' (US), ''Fulcrum'' (US), ''Shenandoah'' (US), ''The Common'' (US), ''New Letters'' (US), ''Helix'' (Australia).

==Personal life==
He has been based in [[Goa]] since 1985. Shetty is based in [[Dona Paula]], a suburb some seven kilometres from the state capital of [[Panjim]] ([[Panaji]]) in [[Goa]]. He has written an account<ref name="DailyO">{{cite web|last1=Shetty|first1=Manohar|title=A poet remembers: Drinking in Goa and why alcohol is a false god|url=http://www.dailyo.in/user/12108/manohar-shetty|website=Daily O|publisher=dailyo.in|access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref> of his experiences with alcohol in the book ''House Spirit: Drinking in India – Stories, Essays, Poems''<ref>{{cite web|editor-last1=Mehrotra|editor-first1=Palash Krishna|title=House Spirit: Drinking in India-Stories, Essays, Poems|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30267170-house-spirit|website=Goodreads|access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref> (Speaking Tiger Books).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://openspaceindia.org/express/talking-poetry/item/biographical-note.html Biographical note] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045219/http://openspaceindia.org/express/talking-poetry/item/biographical-note.html |date=2017-03-07 }}
*[https://scroll.in/article/815581/why-reading-manohar-shettys-poetry-is-like-knowing-the-earth-all-over-again Why reading Manohar Shetty’s poetry is like knowing the earth all over again]
*[http://www.caravanmagazine.in/reviews-essays/private-eye The strange, sensuous world of Manohar Shetty’s poetry]
*[http://old.himalmag.com/vacancy/5231-a-room-of-his-own.html A room of his own, Lora Tomas in Himal South Asia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704011115/http://old.himalmag.com/vacancy/5231-a-room-of-his-own.html |date=2017-07-04 }}
*[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/modern-indian-poetry-in-english-9780195671971?cc=in&lang=en& King, Bruce, ed. Modern Indian Poetry in English. Oxford University Press, 1987.]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shetty, Manohar}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian male writers]]

Manohar Shetty - Revision history

LuciaStonor at 12:58, 17 March 2026