Nabarun Bhattacharya
{{Short description|Indian writer and poet (1948–2014)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Nabarun Bhattacharya
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1948|06|23}}
| birth_place = {{nowrap|Berhampur, West Bengal, India}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2014|07|31|1948|06|23}}
| death_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| occupation = Writer
| language = Bengali
| politics =
| education =
| alma_mater = Calcutta University
| period =
| genre =
|political party=
| organization =
| movement =
| notableworks = {{ubl|Herbert (1994)|Andho Biral|Fyataru}}
| spouse = Pranati Bhattacharya
| children =
| parents = {{ubl|Bijon Bhattacharya |Mahashweta Devi }}
| relatives = {{ubl|Manish Ghatak (maternal grandfather)|Ritwik Ghatak (great uncle)}}
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = Sahitya Akademi Award (1993)
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
}}
Nabarun Bhattacharya (23 June 1948 – 31 July 2014) was an Indian writer who wrote in the Bengali language. He was born at Berhampur, West Bengal. He was the only child of actor and playwright Bijon Bhattacharya and writer and activist Mahashweta Devi.{{cite book |title=Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M|editor=Kartik Chandra Dutt |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=1999|isbn=81-260-0873-3|page=164 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC&q=Nabarun+Bhattacharya&pg=PA164 }} His maternal grandfather was a writer from the Kallol era Manish Ghatak. Visionary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak was his great uncle.
His novel, Herbert (1993), was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Nabarun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCGKDwAAQBAJ |title=Harbart |date=25 June 2019 |publisher=New Directions Publishing |isbn=978-0-8112-2474-1 |language=bn}} and adapted into a film of the same name by Suman Mukhopadhyay in 2005.{{cite news|author=Nathan Lee|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/movies/11herb.html|title=Storm Advisory: Cyclone of a Life on the Horizon|date=10 December 2008|work=New York Times}}
Bhattacharya regularly edited a literary magazine Bhashabandhan.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqRCEAAAQBAJ&dq=BHashabandhan&pg=PA147 |title=Nabarun Bhattacharya: Aesthetics and Politics in a World after Ethics |date=30 September 2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89812-48-0 |language=en}} He was secretary of Ganasanskriti Parisad, the cultural organization of CPIML Liberation.{{Cite book |last=Bagchi |first=Jasodhara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIuHAwAAQBAJ&dq=Gana+Sanskriti+Parishad&pg=PA90 |title=The Changing Status of Women in West Bengal, 1970-2000: The Challenge Ahead |date=7 January 2005 |publisher=SAGE Publications India |isbn=978-81-321-0178-9 |language=en}}
Personal life
Bhattacharya studied in Kolkata, first Geology, then English, from Calcutta University. Nabarun married Pranati Bhattacharya, who was a professor of political science.{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/End-of-journey-for-the-eternal-rebel-Nabarun-Bhattacharya-passes-away/articleshow/39387182.cms|title=End of journey for the eternal rebel: Nabarun Bhattacharya passes away|publisher=Times of India|date=1 August 2014|website=timesofindia.com|access-date=12 March 2017}}
Works
=The characters called Fyataru=
His magic realist writings introduced a strange set of human beings to Bengali readers, called Fyataru (fyat: the sound created by kites while they are flown; otherwise, fyat has also a hint of someone worthless, deriving from the words foto, faaltu; uru: related to flying), who are an anarchic underclass fond of sabotage who are also capable of flying whenever they utter the mantra 'fyat fyat sh(n)aai sh(n)aai
In 2019, a new English translation of Harbart was published by New Directions, reviewed for Words Without Borders by Arka Chattopadhyay.{{Cite web|last=Conde|first=Miguel|title=Nabarun Bhattacharya Conjures Ghosts of Revolutionary Dreams in His Masterful Novel "Harbart"|url=https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/book-review/nabarun-bhattacharya-conjures-ghosts-of-revolutionary-dreams-in-his-masterf|access-date=30 July 2021|website=Words Without Borders}} In 2020, Sourit Bhattacharya, Arka Chattopadhyay and Samrat Sengupta co-edited a Bloomsbury volume of Nabarun's short stories, poems, interviews and a set of critical articles on his works: Nabarun Bhattacharya: Aesthetics and Politics in a World after Ethics.{{Cite web|last=bloomsbury.com|title=Nabarun Bhattacharya|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/nabarun-bhattacharya-9789388630504|access-date=30 July 2021|website=Bloomsbury|language=en}}
Major works
- Kangal Malshat (কাঙাল মালসাট) (Hooghly: Saptarshi Prakashan, 2003)
- Herbert (হারবার্ট) (Kolkata: Deys, 1994)
- Lubdhak (লুব্ধক) (Barasat: Abhijan Publishers, 2006)
- Ei Mrityu Upotyoka Aamaar Desh Na (এই মৃত্যু উপত্যকা আমার দেশ না) (Hooghly: Saptarshi, 2004)
- Halaljhanda o Onyanyo (Hooghly: Saptarshi, 2009)
- Mahajaaner Aayna (Kolkata: Bhashabandhan, 2010)
- Fyaturur Kumbhipak (Kolkata: Bhashabandhan)
- Raater Circus (রাতের সার্কাস) (Kolkata: Bhashabandhan)
- Anarir Naarigyan (Kolkata: Bhashabandhan)
- Joratali (জোড়াতালি) (Kolkata: Bhashabandhan, Posthumous)
- Mablage Novel(Kolkata:Bhashabandhan, Posthumous)
- Andho Biral (অন্ধ বিড়াল)
Death
Nabarun Bhattacharya died of intestinal cancer at Thakurpukur cancer hospital, Kolkata on 31 July 2014.{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/radical-bengali-writer-nabarun-bhattacharya-dies-at-66/489521-3-231.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810165959/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/radical-bengali-writer-nabarun-bhattacharya-dies-at-66/489521-3-231.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 August 2014 |title=Radical Bengali writer Nabarun Bhattacharya dies at 66 – IBNLive |publisher=Ibnlive.in.com |access-date=31 July 2014}}
References
{{Reflist|40em}}
External links
- {{Internet Archive author}}
- {{cite web|url=http://textualities.net/nabarun-bhattacharya/an-indian-writer-in-japan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609153047/http://textualities.net/nabarun-bhattacharya/an-indian-writer-in-japan/|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 June 2011|title=An Indian Writer in Japan : Textualities|access-date=20 November 2016}}
- [http://www.shabdankan.com/2015/06/american-petromax-nabarun-bhattacharya.html American Petromax (Hindi) – Nabarun Bhattacharya]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Nabarun}}
Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali
Category:Indian male novelists
Category:Bengali-language novelists
Category:Indian magazine editors
Category:University of Calcutta alumni
Category:People from Baharampur
Category:20th-century Indian novelists
Category:Novelists from West Bengal
Category:21st-century Indian novelists
Category:20th-century Indian male writers
Category:21st-century Indian male writers