About Bishnu Dey
Bishnu Dey (July 18, 1909 – December 3, 1982) was a Bengali poet, writer, essayist, academician, art appreciator, and connoisseur in the era of modernism and post-modernism. Modern Bengali poetry originated between the two World Wars. This period was also marked by the escalation of the Indian independence movement. The poverty of villagers and laborers and the unseemly affluence of some opportunists made the young generation hopelessly depressed. Young poets started writing in protest, in a new style. This literary crusade was championed by Bishnu Dey, Jibanananda Das, Buddhadeb Basu, Sudhindranath Dutta, Amiya Chakravarty, and others. These pioneers created and structured contemporary Bengali poetry in the post-Rabindranath era. Bishnu Dey was steeped in his country’s lore; he was in tune with India’s traditions even as he wrote what might be called revolutionary poetry, both in form and content. Unquestionably, his poetry dealt with fundamental events at home and beyond. He wrote about his country and its men and women who suffered grievously throughout history but somehow remained unvanquished. India’s music—especially Indian classical music and Rabindranath’s songs—was close to Dey’s heart. He translated poems written in the Santhal, Oraon, and Chhattisgarh languages through William Archer and Verrier Elwin. And yet, he was also an aficionado of Western classical music and, through his poetry, familiarized readers with this genre, as well as Western mythology, literature, and art. Bishnu Dey always supported progressive trends in this country. “Deeply drawn towards the social analysis of Marxism, he has achieved, in his own way, a unique mental adjustment – it has cost him much, especially the Establishment’s ire, but perhaps it has given him the sustenance which is the secret of his unceasing literary labors.” (by Hirendranath Mukherjee, book jacket of ‘In the Sun and the Rain’ by Bishnu Dey) Dey's seminal work, Smriti Satta Bhabishyat (স্মৃতি সত্তা ভবিষ্যৎ; Memory, the Being, the Future, 1955–61, published in 1963), set a new precedent in Bengali poetry. It won him the 1965 Sahitya Akademi Award in Bengali and the highest literary award in India, the Jnanpith Award, in 1971. Dey’s poems have been translated into English (by the poet himself and others) and into Indian languages like Hindi and Kannada. His first story, ‘Puraner Punorjanma,’ (পুরাণের পুনর্জন্ম) was published in 1928 in Pragati (প্রগতি) magazine by Budhhadeb Basu.
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