Monday, February 8
6:00 [Workshop] 7:30 PM [Reading]
Nepalese poet Yuyutsu RD Sharma
Hosted by Rebecca Morrison

Yuyutsu RD Sharma (Ram Dass) A widely traveled major Nepali/Indian writer was born at Nakodar, Punjab and grew up in Nakodar and later at Nangal Township of Shivalik ranges of Mahabharata Hills where his father, Madan Lal, worked. Yuyutsu grew up in a very religious atmosphere with his mother, Shanti Devi and at the age of nine became a shaman as he was thought to be possessed by a serpent spirit, his family deity.

Later he came under the impression of Naga ascetics whom his father revered. But after finishing his Bachelor's degree in KRM DAV College in Nakodar, Yuyutsu went to Baring Union Christian College, Batala and received his Master's Degree in English Literature. Later he received his M Phil at the University of Rajasthan where he met American poet David Ray. Yuyutsu remained active in the literary circles of Rajasthan and acted in plays by Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Harold Pinter, and Edward Albee.

He is the recipient of fellowships and grants from The Rockefeller Foundation, Ireland Literature Exchange, Trubar Foundation, Slovenia, The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature and The Foundation for the Production and Translation of Dutch Literature, Yuyutsu RD Sharma is a distinguished poet and translator.

He has published eight poetry collections, including Space Cake, Amsterdam, & Other Poems from Europe and America, (Howling Dog Press, Colorado, 2009), Annapurna Poems, (Nirala, New Delhi 2008), Everest Failures (White Lotus Book Shop, Kathmandu, 2008); 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. He has translated and edited several anthologies of contemporary Nepali poetry in English and launched a literary movement, Kathyakayakalp (Content Metamorphosis) along with Shailendra Sakar in Nepali poetry.

A collection of his poems in Slovenian translation, entitled, Jezero Fewa in Konj came out from the Sodobnost International Press, Ljubljana. A collection of his poems in French, entitled, Poemes de l’ Himalayas has just appeared from Harmattan, Paris.

Yuyutsu’s own work has been translated into German, French, Italian, Slovenian, Hebrew, Spanish and Dutch. Currently, he edits Pratik, A Magazine of Contemporary Writing and contributes literary columns to Nepal’s leading daily, The Himalayan Times and The Kathmandu Post.

Previously at the Sacramento Poetry Center