Talks
Evoking the Unsayable – Jayant Kaikini’s Take on Art
In collaboration with Ananya Dhrishya
“In Marathi, there is an expression called ghadat aahe, which means, ‘It is happening’. I am interested in that which is happening….. The art I create is an antidote to what is happening around us.” – poet Jayant Kaikini.
This event is a chance to hear from and learn about poet Jayant Kaikini in conversation with Pratibha Nandakumar from Ananya Dhrishya. Jayant Kaikini’s poetry is characterised by subtle imagism, a minute documentation of the seemingly commonplace, a colloquial idiom, and a conscientious refusal to engage in any poeticising.
His stories often depict the richness of urban life, particularly in Mumbai, and reflect his own experience with multiple languages (Kannada, Konkani, Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati). He’s fascinated by fleeting moments of experience, the “happening” as he calls it, rather than focusing on the consequences of those moments. He sees his art as a way to counter the often overwhelming nature of the world.
This event offers an opportunity to explore a unique perspective of art and poetry.
Jayant Kaikini
Jayant Kaikini is a Kannada poet, short story writer, columnist and playwright, as well as a lyricist and script writer for films. He was initial content adviser for couple of tv channels .
He is a recipient of the Kusumagraj National Literary Award (2010), the Karnataka State Award for Best Dialogue (2003) and Best Lyrics (2006), and the Filmfare Award for Best Lyrics (2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2022). No Presents Please, his volume of selected Mumbai stories, translated in to english by Tejaswini Niranjana, won the DSC Prize for Best South Asian Literature in 2018. His latest books on stands are , “Mithun Number Two” and other mumbai stories in english (2024) , and “anarkaliya safetypin” and stories in kannada .
Prathibha Nandakumar
Prathibha Nandakumar (1955) is a leading Kannada poet, journalist, film maker, columnist and translator. Her publications include 17 collections of poems, two collections of short stories, three biographies, one collection of essays, one autobiography, and five translations into Kannada including and four translations from Kannada into English. Her poems are translated to English, Swedish, Chinese, Finnish, Danish, Spanish and other Indian languages. Her poems are included in major international anthologies and are also taught in several American Universities as part of Third World Country Feminist poetry.
Her awards include the Infosys Foundation Award for Literature, Bangalore Literary Festival Award, Dr Shivarama Karanth Award, Karnataka Sahitya Academy Book Award, Mahadevi Verma Kavya Samman, Anupama Niranjana award, Kempegowda State Award, Ankita Author of the year award and Hoogar Memorial Award for Journalism.
