William Radice
Encyclopedia
William Radice is a Poet
, Writer
and Translator.
He is the Senior Lecturer in Bengali in the School of Oriental and African Studies
, University of London
.
His research area is in Bengali language
and literature.
He has translated several Bengali
works, and works by Rabindranath Tagore
and Michael Madhusudan Dutt
.
He rewrote the text Debotar Grash by Rabindranath Tagore
as an opera-libretto, which was put to music by Param Vir Singh. He wrote the libretto for a new children's opera Chincha-Chancha Cooroo or The Weaver’s Wedding with music by Bernard Hughes. http://w11opera.org/thisyear.html
He has published nine volumes of poetry ranging from Eight Sections (1974), Strivings (1980), Louring Skies (1985) and Gifts (2002) to his latest two books This Theatre Royal (2004) and Green, Red, Gold, a novel in 101 sonnets (2005) which were hailed by A.N. Wilson in The Daily Telegraph as stunning.
In 2002, he published the voluminous (784 pages) Myths and Legends of India, a collection of 112 of his own retellings with selections from P.Lal's ongoing transcreation
of the Mahabharata. Along with the major Hindu myths, he has included legends and folk tales from Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Syrian Christian and tribal sources.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, Writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and Translator.
He is the Senior Lecturer in Bengali in the School of Oriental and African Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
.
His research area is in Bengali language
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
and literature.
He has translated several Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
works, and works by Rabindranath 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...
and Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Michael Madhusudan Dutt or Michael Madhusudan Dutta was a popular 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagardari , on the bank of Kopotaksho [কপোতাক্ষ] River, a village in Keshobpur Upozila, Jessore District, East Bengal . His father was Rajnarayan Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and...
.
He rewrote the text Debotar Grash by Rabindranath 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...
as an opera-libretto, which was put to music by Param Vir Singh. He wrote the libretto for a new children's opera Chincha-Chancha Cooroo or The Weaver’s Wedding with music by Bernard Hughes. http://w11opera.org/thisyear.html
He has published nine volumes of poetry ranging from Eight Sections (1974), Strivings (1980), Louring Skies (1985) and Gifts (2002) to his latest two books This Theatre Royal (2004) and Green, Red, Gold, a novel in 101 sonnets (2005) which were hailed by A.N. Wilson in The Daily Telegraph as stunning.
In 2002, he published the voluminous (784 pages) Myths and Legends of India, a collection of 112 of his own retellings with selections from P.Lal's ongoing transcreation
Transcreation
The term transcreation refers to the concept of adapting a message from one language into another, whilst maintaining the same intent, style and tone. A transcreated message needs to evoke the same emotions and carry the same implications as the original...
of the Mahabharata. Along with the major Hindu myths, he has included legends and folk tales from Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Syrian Christian and tribal sources.
Major publications
William Radice's Main Publications include:- Eight Sections (poems, Secker & Warburg, London, 1974)
- Strivings (poems, Anvil Press, London, 1980)
- The Stupid Tiger and Other Tales (tr. from Bengali, Andre Deutsch, London, 1981, 1988; Rupa & Co., Calcutta, 1987; HarperCollins, Delhi, 2000)
- Louring Skies (poems, Anvil Press, London, 1985)
- Selected Poems, 1970-81 (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 1987)
- Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Poems (tr., Penguin, 1985, rev. 1987; new ed., 1995; Penguin India, 1995)
- The Translator's Art: Essays in Honour of Betty RadiceBetty RadiceBetty Radice was joint editor of Penguin Classics and vice-president of the Classical Association.-Biography:...
(ed. with Barbara Reynolds, Penguin, 1987) - Char Baktrita ('Four Lectures', Bangla Academy, Dhaka, 1990)
- Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short Stories (tr., Penguin, 1991, rev. 1994; Penguin India, 1995) + Cuentos (tr. Angel Garcia Galiano, Madrid: PPC, 1996) and L'esquelet i altres narracions (tr. Marta Marín, Barcelona: Editorial Empúries, 2002)
- Sakuntala (ed., Folio Society, London, 1992)
- Snatched by the Gods, a libretto based on Tagore for an opera by Param Vir (Novello, London, 1992)
- Rozsa Hajnoczy: Fire of Bengal (tr. from Hungarian by David Grant & Eva Wimmer, ed., University Press Ltd., Dhaka, 1993)
- Juan Mascaró: The Creation of Faith/La Creació de la Fe (ed., Editorial Moll, Palma de Mallorca, 1994; Rupa & Co., Delhi, 1995; Bayeux Arts, Calgary, 1999)
- The Retreat (poems, University Press Ltd., Dhaka, 1994)
- Teach Yourself Bengali (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1994)
- Martin Kämpchen: The Honey-seller and Other Stories (tr. from German, Rupa & Co., Delhi, 1995)
- Before and After (poems, Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 1995)
- Rabindranath Tagore: The Post Office (play, tr., The Tagore Centre UK, 1995)
- The One and the Many, readings from Tagore with photographs by John Berridge (ed., Bayeux Arts, Calgary, 1997)
- Swami Vivekananda and the Modernisation of Hinduism (ed., OUP, Delhi, 1997, 1999)
- Particles, Jottings, Sparks: The Collected Brief Poems of Rabindranath Tagore (HarperCollins, Delhi, 2000; Angel Books, London, 2001)
- Myths and Legends of India (retold by W.R., Folio Society, London, 2001; Penguin India, 2002)
- Gifts: Poems 1992-1999 (Grevatt & Grevatt, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2002)
- Sigfrid Gauch: Traces of My Father (tr. from German, Northwestern University Press, Illinois, 2002)
- A Hundred Letters from England ( Indialog Publications, New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, 2003) - Poetry and Community: Lectures and Essays 1991-2001 (DC Publishers, Delhi, 2003)
- Beauty, Be My Brahman: Indian Poems (Writers Workshop, Kolkata, 2004)
External links
- William Radice Biography and photograph at W11 Children's Opera
- Personal Website of William Radice