Prof. K. Satchidanandan, famous Malayalam poet, essayist, translator, a bilingual critic and editor delivered a Distinguished lecture titled “Indian Literature: Singular/Plural” at the University of Hyderabad on 18 March 2013.
Speaking to a packed audience of students, faculty and staff, Prof. K Satchidanandan touched upon a range of issues ranging from literary history to contemporary identities. Prof K Satchidanandan exposed the issue of singularity / plurality from three different positions. He pointed out the need of a new genealogy to discuss Indian literature that goes beyond this binary.
Prof. Amithaba Das Gupta, Dean, School of Humanities welcomed the gathering while Prof. B. Ananthakrishnan, Dean, S. N. School introduced the speaker. Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, Vice-Chancellor, UoH presided the lecture while Dr. Bheemaiah, Centre for Comparative Litrature, School of Humanities proposed a vote of thanks.
Dr. Satchidanandan has a doctorate in post-structuralist poetics and was Professor of English at Christ College, University of Calicut, Kerala. He edited Indian Literature, the journal of the Sahitya Akademi (The National Academy of Letters) and was the Chief Executive of the Akademi. He later worked as Language Policy Consultant for the Govt. of India and has been associated, as editor, with Katha, Delhi, and the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature. He has 21 collections of poetry in Malayalam, 16 of world poetry in translation, 4 plays, 3 books of travel, 23 collections of critical essays and interviews and 4 collections of essays in English, apart from anthologies of poetry in Malayalam, English and Hindi. He also has 27 collections of poems in translation in 17 languages, including 5 collections in English, 6 in Hindi and one each in Irish, Arabic, German, French and Italian, besides in all the major Indian languages.