Awards

• Winner of Sahitya Akademi Award.

Overview

Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award Magadh, Shrikant Verma’s masterpiece, was first published in Hindi in 1984 and is widely regarded as one of the most important works of modern Indian poetry. A chorus of narrators – commoners, statesmen, nameless wanderers – pieces together the histories of ancient cities and kingdoms on the Indian subcontinent, their rise to splendour, their decline and eventual fall. In poems that are stark and urgent yet arch and richly allusive, Verma lays bare their tales of corruption, guilt, ignorance and arrogance. Rahul Soni’s landmark translation stays faithful to the spare, haunting, incantatory cadences of the original, revealing how startlingly prescient and relevant Magadh remains today. ‘Forty years after, these poems are more relevant than ever, telling of power’s hollow victories, the peculiar burden of joy, how sorrow finds us wherever we may hide.’ Jeet Thayil

Full Product Details

9781916751330

Table of Contents

Reviews

‘In Rahul Soni’s translation, Verma’s minimalist poems are made beautiful by their precise syntax and structural interstices.’ Alexander Leissle, *Art Review * ‘First published in Hindi in 1984, two years before Verma’s death, and here published for the first time in the UK in Soni’s luminous translation, this haunting and haunted masterpiece resonates louder than ever in our own times, with its stark images of cities pulverised by invading armies.’ Philip Terry, The Guardian

Author Information

Shrikant Verma (1931–1986) was a central figure in the Nai Kavita literary movement. He was also a member of the Congress party and served as spokesman of the party through the late 1970s to the early 80s. He published books of fiction, a travelogue, essays and five collections of poetry.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available