Gopi K Kottoor Indian English

Indian English

Indian English is an umbrella term used to describe dialects of the English language spoken primarily in the Republic of India.As a result of British colonial rule until Indian independence in 1947 English is an official language of India and is widely used in both spoken and literary contexts...

 poet.

Early life and education

Kottoor won the Philip McCormick scholarship of the Texas State University, Southwest Texas, USA and attended the Master of Fine Arts (Poetry) program of the University with a Teaching Assistantship in the Department of English of the University during the year 2000.

In 2005, Kottoor was Poet-in-Residence in the University of Augsburg

University of Augsburg

The University of Augsburg is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 7 Faculties....

, Germany, on a sponsorship by the Indian Council Of Cultural Relations,(ICCR) in association with Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

 Centre, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Kottoor was invited to read from his translation of the 15c Bhakti poet Poonthanam

Poonthanam

Poonthanam was a famous devotee of Guruvayurappan, who lived in Keezhattoor in , Kerala, India. He was a famous devotee of Lord Krishna . He is remembered for his masterpiece, Jnanappana which means 'the song of wisdom' in Malayalam...

's Gyanappana (The Fountain Of God) at the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, in the same year.

Career

To quote eminent poet-critic Ayyappa Paniker about Kottoor, ‘a poet who has discovered his own voice distinct from that of his ancestors or his compeers’. His poetry, known for its ‘rich visual imagery embalmed with feeling’ has won him accolades both in his home country and abroad.

Kottoor is perhaps best known for his work, Father, Wake Us In Passing, a poem sequence on his father in coma, and dying. The German translation of this poem by the German poet Wolfgang Heyder (b.1956) appeared as a Laufschrift Book edition, Fürth

Fürth

The city of Fürth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

,(Vater, wecke' uns im Vorübergehen')in 2004.

Gopi Kottoor won both the All-India Special Poetry Prize of the British Council

British Council

The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

-Poetry Society, India All India Poetry Competitions (AIPC) in 1997 for his poem These are the things we could talk about as also the Second Prize for his poem Digging in the General Category of the Competition in 1997. Between 1995 and 1998, he won three more major poetry prizes presented by the British Council -Poetry Society India sponsored All India Poetry Competitions (AIPC).
Writing to him soon after he won his poetry prizes, the leading poet Jayanta Mahapatra

Jayanta Mahapatra

Jayanta Mahapatra is one of the best known Indian English poets.By all standards, Mahapatra's tryst with the muse came rather late in life. He took to writing poetry when he was into his 40s...

,and editor of Chandrabhaga

Chandrabhaga

Chandrabhaga may refer to:* Chenab River in Punjab* Bhima River near Pandharpur, Maharashtra...

, who was also a part of the jury wrote to him saying

"You write exceptionally well.... My admiration grows for you for your poems".

Kottoor's poetry has appeared in a wide range of journals, including: The Illustrated Weekly of India, Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), Thought, Literary Half-Yearly, Kavya Bharati, Ariel(University of Calgary, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

), Lipi and Chandrabhaga (Ed: Jayanta Mahapatra), Toronto Review, Plaza, Persona (Texas State University Journal). His poems have featured in the Special Editions on Contemporary Indian Poetry in English brought out by the poetry journals: Verse, (Seattle) USA)and Fulcrum

Fulcrum (newspaper)

The Fulcrum is the English language student newspaper at the University of Ottawa. The paper dates back to 1942 and co-exists on the bilingual campus with La Rotonde, the University of Ottawa's French newspaper...

, (USA).

Kottoor's plays include The Mask of Death, a radio-play on the dying days of the Romantic

Romantic poetry

Romanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...

 poet John Keats

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...

 in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, and 'Fire In The Soul', a play on the life and times of the Nationalist rebel poet of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Subramania Bharati,which won the Bharati award in 1995.

He recently brought out his latest book of poems Victoria Terminus, Poems selected and new (Authors Press New Delhi, 2010).
Works in progress include Angel's In My Garden, A fictitious novel on the life and prison times of an incarcerated fashion designer.

His recent poems can be read at Nthposition online, UK.

Kottoor edits a poetry quarterly 'Poetry Chain' and presently lives in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, India, where he works with the Reserve Bank Of India.

He also edits the popular website for Poetry, PetrychainOnline (India).

Online References

• Father, Wake us in Passing: A Book of poems (A Poetry Chain Imprint)Review: Touching Recollections
• Father Wake Us In Passing: Review: Beyond The Confessional
• Father Wake Us In Passing(Guest Poet Readings at University of Augsburg Germany): Comment