Selected Poems

This book brings forty poems of Harihar Vaishnav, translated into English by Uma Ram and K. S. Ram. The poems present poignant pictures of the tribes in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, struggling against a changed order which they resent, but are unable to resist. The original text in Hindi is printed alongside the English translation. 

Harihar Vaishnav was born in Bastar in 1955, and lived there all his life till his death in 2021. He is best known for his pioneering work in bringing to light the four oral epics (jagaar) of the Gond tribes in Bastar.

Winner of the Umesh Sharma Sahitya Samman (2009) given by the Chhattisgarh Hindi Sahitya Parishad; Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Sahitya Samman (2015) given by the Chhattisgarh Government; Verrier Elwin Pratishtha Alankaran (2015), and, Bhasha Samman of the Sahitya Academi (2015)