Abhay Kumar

Abhay K.
Abhay K. pictured in 2017
Born
Abhay Kumar

Rajgir, Bihar, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materKirori Mal College Jawaharlal Nehru University
Occupation(s)Poet, Diplomat, Editor, Anthologist, Ambassador
Known forPoetry, Diplomacy, Earth Anthem, Moon Anthem, Sun Anthem, Cosmic Anthems, Bihari Literature
Websitewww.abhayk.com

Abhay Kumar [Pen Name Abhay K.] is an Indian poet-diplomat, editor, translator, anthologist and artist.[1] and currently serves as the deputy director general of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 2003 after doing master's in geography at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Kirorimal College, Delhi University. He served as India's 21st ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros from 2019-2022[2][3][4] and as India's Deputy Ambassador to Brazil from 2016-2019. He earlier served as Spokesperson and First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal from 2012-2016 and as Acting Consul General of India in St. Petersburg, and Third/Second Secretary at Indian Embassy, Moscow, Russia from 2005 to 2010. He served as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of External Affairs from 2010-2012 and sent out the first tweet on its behalf in 2010 starting a new era of India's Digital Diplomacy.[5]

His published collections of poetry include Celestial,Stray Poems,Monsoon, The Magic of Madagascar, The Alphabets of Latin America, The Prophecy of Brasilia, The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu, The Seduction of Delhi among others, while his edited books are CAPITALS, 100 Great Indian Poems, 100 More Great Indian Poems, New Brazilian Poems, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems, The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems, The Book of Bihari Literature among others. His Earth Anthem has been translated into over 150 languages [6][7] and was played at the United Nations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day.[8] He also wrote an anthem for SAARC spurring search for an official SAARC Anthem. He wrote a 'Moon Anthem' to celebrate the success of India's Moon Mission Chandrayaan-2.[9][10] and Chandrayaan-3.[11] He also penned a Sun Anthem to mark the launch of ISRO's Aditya-L1[12] He has penned anthems on all the planets in the Solar System.[13] His translation of the first Magahi novel Fool Bahadur will be published by Penguin Random House in 2024.

Abhay K. and Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

He received the SAARC Literary Award for his contribution to contemporary South Asian poetry and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2013. He has also been honoured with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award in 2014. His The Seduction of Delhi was shortlisted for Muse India-Satish Verma Young Writer Award 2015. He has been called a 'World Poet' by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Vijay Seshadri[14] His translation of Kalidasa's Meghaduta and Ritusamhara received Kalinga Literary Festival 2020-2021 Poetry Book of the Year Award.[15] while The Book of Bihari Literature edited by him received KLF Book Award 2022.[16] He recorded his poems at the Library of Congress.[17] His poem 'The Partitioned Land' was taught at the Cornell University in the Fall 2021.[18] His book-length poem 'Monsoon' has been chosen by Harvard University's assistant professor Sarah Dimick to study for a book project on Climate and Literature along with the two books of Amitava Ghosh.[19] He was elected as a foreign corresponding member of Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2023.[20]

  1. ^ UNESCO finds Indian poet-diplomat's idea of an Earth Anthem inspiring, Business Standard, 27 February 2014
  2. ^ Ambassador's Profile Embassy of India Website, Madagascar April 2019
  3. ^ Abhay Kumar appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Madagascar MEA India website November 2018
  4. ^ Abhay Kumar concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Union of the Comoros MEA website, 28 May 2019
  5. ^ "A diplomatic web", The New Indian Express, 5 August 2011
  6. ^ Earth anthem in 150+ languages Earth Anthem Website 31 December 2021
  7. ^ World Biodiversity Day: Earth Anthem by Indian poet-diplomat translated into 100 languages Yahoo news, 23 May 2021
  8. ^ UN commemorates Earth Day with ‘Earth Anthem’ penned by Indian poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar The Financial Express, 28 April 2020
  9. ^ Nalanda-born diplomat writes anthem on Moon The Times of India, Patna, 9 September 2019.
  10. ^ Ahead of Chandrayaan 2 Landing Poet-Diplomat writes Moon Anthem NDTV, 6 September 2019
  11. ^ Ahead of Chandrayaan-3 landing, poet-diplomat Abhay K pens 'Moon anthem' India Today, 23 August 2023
  12. ^ Poet-diplomat Abhay K pens Sun Anthem ahead of Aditya-L1 launch Hindustan Times, 2 September 2023
  13. ^ Ten anthems for the solar system Scroll.in, 21 December 2020
  14. ^ Indian poet Abhay K. receives warm welcome in the United States Archived 2 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine ANI, 17 October 2018
  15. ^ Poet-diplomat Abhay K's translation of Kalidasa's 'Meghaduta', 'Ritusamhara' win KLF Poetry Book of the Year Award 2020-21 ANI, 9 September 2021
  16. ^ >Abhay K. gets KLF Book Award for ‘The Book of Bihari Literature[permanent dead link] The Print, 25 Feb 2023.
  17. ^ K first Indian poet to record poems at Library of Congress[permanent dead link] ANI, 30 August 2018
  18. ^ Revisiting Kashmir: A Survey and Literature and Culture. Cornell University, Fall 2021
  19. ^ Indian literature has much stronger sense of rain and dryness, says Harvard varsity academician The Hindu 27 September 2022
  20. ^ Indian poet Abhay K elected as corresponding member of Academy of Letters of Brazil The Print, 26 Jan 2023