Yuyutsu R.D. Sharma

Poet & Writer

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Yuyutsu RD Sharma: Kathmandu Poet in New York

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Yuyutsu RD Sharma: Kathmandu Poet in New York
By Susie DeFord Apr 5, 2010

Yuyutsu R. D. Sharma in New York
 I became familiar with Yuyutsu RD Sharma’s poetry on his recent long stay in New York to promote his latest collection Space Cake Amsterdam (Howling Dog Press 2009). Space Cake is a beautifully designed book with artwork by the artist Henry Avignon. In the Beat tradition, the Nepali poet chronicles his travels through Europe and America. Some of his experiences are comical—in the title poem “Space Cake Amsterdam” the poet accidentally eats hash cake in Amsterdam. Some are beautifully imagistic, like “Temple, London,” where he describes seeing a homeless woman at the top of an escalator as if she is “a hillside shrine/ that our goddesses/ always prefer to live on.”

Yuyutsu RD Sharma has published seven previous poetry collections including Annapurna Poems, (Nirala, New Delhi 2008), Everest Failures (White Lotus Book Shop, Kathmandu, 2008) Way To Everest: A Photographic and Poetic Journey to the Foot of Everest, (Epsilonmedia, Germany, 2006) with German photographer Andreas Stimm, and a translation of Irish poet Cathal O’ Searcaigh poetry in Nepali in a bilingual collection entitled Kathmandu: Poems, Selected and New, 2006.  He is a recipient of fellowships and grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, Ireland Literature Exchange, Trubar Foundation, amongst others. His works have appeared in Poetry Review, Chanrdrabhaga,  Sodobnost, Amsterdam Weekly, and several other magazines. Currently, he edits Pratik, A Magazine of Contemporary Writing and contributes literary columns to Nepal’s leading daily, The Himalayan Times and Newsfront Weekly. He recently published his first novel and a book of his prose writing on the ongoing political turbulence in Nepal entitled Annapurnas and Stains of Blood (Niral Publications 2009).

Susie DeFord: What was your first introduction to poetry?

Yuyutsu RD Sharma: My first introduction to poetry took place in holy places in India. My father was a devout follower of Naga ascetics and my grandfather’s place, Nakodar, Punjab, where I grew up, had great religious flavor. Our family deity was a serpent spirit, Guga Sian, and my grandpa and I would go to the shrine during the annual festival. On one such visit,

Last Updated on Sunday, 11 April 2010 16:25 Read more...
 

08-10 January Readings & Workshop from the Himalayas

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Readings from the Himalayas


Yuyutsu Sharma’s  Workshops

and Readings in Sacramento, California

On February 8, 9 and 10, 2010, help us welcome Yuyutsu Ram Dass Sharma to Northern California. Yuyutsu is a world-renowned poet and author who has published 8 books and translated and edited several anthologies of contemporary Nepali poetry. His work has been translated into German, French, Italian, Slovenian, Hebrew, Spanish and Dutch. One of his books of translations was nominated by the Library of Congress as Best Book of the Year from Asia.

All readings and workshops are free and open to the general public.

 Schedule:
Monday, February 8: SPC, 25th & R: 6-7:30
Tuesday, February 9: 126 Voorhies, UCD campus: 12-12:30 reading, 12:30-2 workshop
Wednesday, February 10: Summit Room, 3rd Floor, University Union, Cal State University Sacramento: 12:30-1:00 reading; 1:00-2:30 workshop
A Himalayan Poem Workshop
Monday, February 8: SPC, 25th & R: 6-7:30 Workshop; 7:30 reading
 
Nepal Andreas Stimm
 
Yuyutsu shall explore the making of a Himalayan poem in the context of Nepalese literature in specific and Indian Subcontinent in general.
Sharing the oral traditions of the devotional Bhakti poets and the history of Nepali literature in shaping the fate of the youngest Himalayan republic of the world, he shall work with the participants in creating a Himalayan poem.  He shall use the Himalayan folk music and the translations from great Nepalese and Indian poets to introduce the  dynamics of Asian literary heritage.
 
 
 Book: Way To Everest Andreas Stimm Watch Himalayan poetry online or download part of it it   -watch online-   -download-
 

Poetry and Photography Workshop

Tuesday, February 9: 126 Voorhies, UCD campus: 12-12:30 reading, 12:30-2 workshop

Yuyutsu shall describe his working with distinguished German Photographer, Andreas Stimm,...
Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 January 2010 22:10 Read more...