Rana Nayar
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rana Nayar
| image = File:Rana Nayyar,a literary critic,Punjab ,India.jpg
| alt = Nayar in 2016.
| caption = Nayar in 2016.
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1957}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Punjabi
| occupation = Translator
}}
Rana Nayar (born 1957){{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-CK1N-oN0DwC&q=%22Rana+Nayar%22+1957&pg=PA196 |title=From Across the Shores: Punjabi Short Stories by Asians in Britain |year=2002 |isbn=9789694941240 |accessdate=2015-05-31}} is a translator of poetry and short fiction from Punjabi to English.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2006/12/12/stories/2006121200951700.htm |title=Short stories |publisher=Hindu.com |date=2006-12-12 |accessdate=2015-05-31}} He has more than forty volumes of poetry and translation works to his credit. He is also a theatre artist and has participated in a number of major full-length productions. He won Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee prize for his English translation of the Punjabi devotional poetry of Saint Baba Farid.
Education and career
Nayar taught English literature at St Bede's College in Shimla from 1980 to 1990. In 1990 he joined Panjab University, Chandigarh, where he became Professor and Head of the Department of English and Cultural Studies.{{cite web|url=http://english.puchd.ac.in/show-biodata.php?qstrempid=309&qstrempdesigcode=8|title= Panjab University - Profile of Rana Nayar|publisher=English.puchd.ac.in|accessdate=2015-05-31}} He has also served as visiting professor with Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.{{cite web|url=https://pwias.ubc.ca/profile/rana-nayar |title= Rana Nayar - Peter Wall Institute|publisher=pwias.ubc.ca|accessdate=2021-06-20}}
Major works
A critic, scholar and translator, Rana Nayar has been a pioneer in bringing into Punjabi translation a great number of classics from Punjabi literature. Among the prominent Punjabi authors he has translated are included such literary giants as Gurdial Singh,{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121111/spectrum/book1.htm|title= The Sunday Tribune Review - Gurdial Singh - A Reader|publisher=Tribuneindia.com|accessdate=2015-05-31}} Raghubir Dhand, Mohan Bhandari and Beeba Balwant inter alia. He has translated three of Gurdial's novels, Night of the Half-moon, Parsa and Alms in the Name of a Blind Horse. He has also translated 14 short stories by Gurdial under the title Ëarthy Tones.{{cite web|url= https://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20021110/spectrum/book1.htm|title= Celebrating the Vision of Gurdial Singh - Earthy Tones|publisher=The Sunday Tribune|accessdate=2020-06-15}}
Besides translating the works of such prominent women writers from Punjab such as Amrita Pritam, Ajit Caur and Dalip Kaur Tiwana, he has helped in bringing to public notice such lesser known writers as Chandan Negi, who writes in both Punjabi and Dogri. Rana Nayar was instrumental in revival of interest in Gurdial Singh's novels and short stories.{{cite web|url=http://www.katha.org/site/book-view?book_isbn=9788189020248|title= Katha Book Review - The Survivors by Gurdial Singh|publisher=Katha.org|accessdate=2015-05-31}}
His first collection of poems (composed by himself) is titled Breathing Spaces, which has received critical review and appreciation in Indian literary circle.
Critical and analytical writing
Rana Nayar's critical works on poetry include "Edward Albee: Towards a Typology of Relationships" published in 2003 by Prestige Publishers. His other critical works which are forthcoming include "Mediations: Self & Society", which is a collection of essays on Indian history, society and culture, and "Third World Narrative : Theory & Practice". He has made seminal contribution to historical analysis of Indian literary translation.{{cite web|url=http://www.vedamsbooks.in/no107698/intersections-essays-on-indian-literatures-translations-popular-consciousness-rana-nayar|title= Inter-sections - Essays on Indian Literatures, Translation & Popular Consciousness|publisher=Vedamsbooks.in|accessdate=2015-05-31}}
Awards and recognition
Rana Nayar has been a Charles Wallace (India) Trust Awardee, besides having won commendation awards for translation from British Council and Katha. In 2007 he won Sahitya Akademi's Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Prize for Poetry. Rana Nayar is also on the editorial board of the prestigious Lakeview International Journal of Literature & Arts.{{cite web|url=http://lijla.weebly.com/about.html|title= LAKEVIEW Editorial Board|publisher=Lijla.weebly.com|accessdate=2015-05-31}}
Bibliography
- Night of the Half Moon, (1996), Macmillan Publishers
- Parsa (2000), National Book Trust
- From Across the Shores: Punjabi Short Stories by Asians in Britain (2002), Sterling Publishers, {{ISBN|978-81-207241-4-3}}
- Earthly Tones (2002), Fiction House
- The Eye of a Doe and Other Stories (2003), Sahitya Akademi
- Melting Moments (2004), Unistar
- Tale of a Cursed Tree (2004), Ravi Sahitya Prakashan
- The Survivors (2005), Katha
- Slice of Life (2005), Unistar
- Shivoham (2007), Rupa Publications, {{ISBN|978-81-207241-4-3}}
- Gurdial Singh - A Reader (2012), Sahitya Akademi, {{ISBN|978-81-260339-7-3}}
- Alms in the Name of a Blind Horse (2016), Rupa Publications, {{ISBN|978-81-291373-1-9}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.indianexpress.com/news/read-on/969450/ Rana Nayar on Gurdial Singh - Article in Indian Express]
- [https://closeloop.com/blog/professor-rana-nayar-visit-to-closeloop-technologies/ Professor Rana Nayar on Work-life Balancing - Article in Closeloop Insights]
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Category:20th-century Indian translators