Delhi events revisit Kunwar Narain ahead of 2027 centenary

Two events in Delhi this month revisited the work of Hindi poet Kunwar Narain ahead of his birth centenary in 2027.

Narain’s poems have travelled from Hindi into English, French, Estonian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Polish and more than a dozen Indian languages. His writing moved across history, philosophy, mythology and everyday life.

Dr Rekha Sethi, an author, translator and professor at Indraprastha College for Women, said translating Narain requires attention to “silences, layers and unspoken meanings”.

Narain was also a translator, working with writers including Mallarmé, Cavafy, Brecht, Borges, Różewicz, Herbert and Świrszczyńska. His long poem *Kumarajiva* follows the Buddhist scholar and translator Kumarajiva, reflecting his interest in how ideas change as they move between languages.

For English readers, his daughter Apurva Narain has translated selections including *No Other World* and *Witnesses of Remembrance*, which brings together around 100 poems. Hindi readers can begin with *Koi Doosra Nahin*, *Apne Samne*, *In Dinon* and *Hashiye Ka Gawah*.