Dilip Purushottam Chitre (1938–2009)
About the Author
The socially critical, versatile and engaged poet Dilip Chitre was born on 17 September 1938 in Baroda.
He wrote poems already at the age of sixteen. His literary career began with articles and short stories for the Hindi magazine Satyakatha, which he wrote as a student. He studied English in Mumbai and began working as a journalist. He was also active as a teacher, painter, translator, screenwriter and filmmaker.
From 1956 to 1960, together with friends, he published the literary journal Shabda ("The Word") in Marathi, and from 1978 to 1980 the English-language literary journal New Quest. From 1975 to 1979 he was a fellow of the International Writing Programme of the University of Iowa.
He worked, among other things, as director of the translation centre at Bharat Bhavan, a museum complex and centre for the arts in Bhopal. In 1985 he directed the Valmiki World Poetry Festival in New Delhi and subsequently an international poets' symposium in Bhopal.
In 1991–92 he was "Writer in Residence" in Heidelberg and Bamberg on a DAAD scholarship. At the Berlin literature festival in 2001 he was a member of the international jury. In the last years of his life he was frequently on lecture tours at home and abroad.
He died on 10 December 2009 in Pune after a long illness.
Works
As a poet in Marathi and English, Dilip Chitre made significant contributions to poetry. "In his immediate homeland he is loved and revered as a Marathi poet; his international reputation rests above all on the English poems," writes his translator Lothar Lutze in the afterword to Der Banyanbaum. Ausgewählte Gedichte. Here is an overview of Chitre's œuvre:
Books in Marathi (selection):
- Orpheus, Mouj Prakashan, Mumbai 1968; 2nd ed.: Shabdalay Prakashan, Srirampur 2010
- Sheeba Raneechya Shodhaat, Majestic Prakashan, Mumbai 1969
- Kavitenantarchyaa Kavita, Vacha Prakashan, Aurangabad 1978
- Chaavya, Pras Prakashan, Mumbai 1983
- Punha Tukaram, S.K. Belvalkar, Pune 1990; 3rd edition: Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 2001
- Tukobache Vaikunthagaman, Shabdalay Prakashan, Srirampur 2010
A large part of Chitre's poems is collected in these 3 volumes: Ekoon Kavita 1–3, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai 1992–1999.
Books in English (selection):
- Ambulance Ride, self-published, Mumbai 1972
- Travelling in a Cage, Clearing House, Mumbai 1980
- The Mountain, Vijaya Chitre, Pune 1998
- No-Moon Monday On The River Karha, Vijaya Chitre, Pune 2000
- As Is, Where Is: Selected Poems, Poetrywala, Mumbai 2008
- The Felling of the Banyan Tree, in: Traveling In A Cage, 1980
Poetry translations from Marathi (selection):
- Says Tuka: Translation of Tukaram, Penguin, 1991
- Shri Jnandev's Anubhavamrut: The Immortal Experience of Being, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1996
- Virus Alert: Poems of Hemant Divate, Mumbai: Poetrywala 2003
- Namdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underground: Poems 1972–2006, Navayana Publishing, Chennai 2007
- Shesha: Selected Marathi poems in English Translation, Poetrywala, Mumbai, 2008
Editorship:
- An Anthology of Marathi Poetry (1945–1965), Nirmala-Sadanand, Mumbai 1968
- Tender Ironies: A Tribute To Lothar Lutze, Manohar, New Delhi 1994
Films:
The films and videos in which Dilip Chitre was involved are listed at tukaram.com.
Published in German
- Das Fällen des Banyanbaums, translated by Lothar Lutze, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, New Delhi, 1980
- Bombay/Mumbai: Bilder einer Mega-Stadt (with Henning Stegmüller and Namdeo Dhasal), translated by Lothar Lutze, A1 Verlag, Munich 1996
- Worte des Tukaram, translated by Lothar Lutze, A1 Verlag, Munich 1999
- Ausgewählte Gedichte. Rendered from English and Marathi by Lothar Lutze (Lotos Blätter 1), Lotos Verlag Roland Beer, Berlin 2001
- Der Banyanbaum. Ausgewählte Gedichte, translated by Lothar Lutze, A1 Verlag, Munich 2006
Prizes and Awards (Selection)
In addition to various awards from the state of Maharashtra, Dilip Chitre received, among others:
- 1984 the Prix Special du Jury for his film Godam
- 1984 the Sahitya Akademi Award for his contributions to Marathi poetry
- 1991–92 he was "Writer in Residence" at the universities of Heidelberg and Bamberg
Rajendra Padture
Further Links
- Dilip Chitre: Tukaram in heaven, Chitre in hell
- Some further poems in English at planetchitre.tripod.com and poemhunter.com (PDF)
- Lindsay Pereira: Dilip Chitre: Portrait of an artist
- Bijay Kant Dubey: Poem analysis "The Felling of the Banyan Tree by Dilip Chitre"
- Short biography and bibliography at Poetry International
📄 Download this author portrait as PDF (in German)