List of Indian English poetry anthologies

This is a list of anthologies of Indian English Poetry.

History

Indian English Poetry is one of the oldest forms of Indian English Literature. Indian poets writing in English have succeeded in Indianizing English in order to reveal nuances of Indian culture or cultures. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu, Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Toru Dutt among others laid the foundation of Indian English Poetry but since then there has been tremendous development in Indian English Poetry both in stylistic and thematic concerns. Nissim Ezekiel with the publication of his first book, A Time to Change, in 1952 heralded in a new era of Modern Indian English Poetry. Since then notable poets like A. K. Ramanujan, R. Parthasarathy, Jayanta Mahapatra, Dom Moraes, Kamala Das, Keki N. Daruwalla, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Arun Kolatkar, Dilip Chitre, Eunice De Souza, Gieve Patel, P. Lal, Syed Ameeruddin and many others have taken Modern Indian English Poetry to new heights exploring culture and the human condition.

The younger generation of notable poets writing in English are Adil Jussawalla, A. J. Thomas, Abhay K, Anju Makhija, Anjum Hasan, Hoshang Merchant, Madan Gopal Gandhi, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Bibhu Padhi, C. P. Surendran, Dileep Jhaveri, Anuradha Bhattacharyya, Gopi Kottoor, Jayanta Mahapatra, Jeet Thayil, Jerry Pinto, K Srilata, K. V. Dominic, D. C. Chambial, T. Vasudeva Reddy, Makarand Paranjape, Mani Rao, Meena Kandasamy, Nandini Sahu, Ranjit Hoskote, Robin Ngangom, Nitoo Das, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Jaydeep Sarangi, Sudeep Sen, Sukrita Paul Kumar, Nalini Priyadarshni, Gopi Kottoor, Vijay Nambisan, Vihang A. Naik, Tapan Kumar Pradhan, Amitabh Mitra and Yuyutsu Sharma among others.

Modern expatriate Indian poets writing in English include Meena Alexander, Ravi Shankar, Amitabh Mitra, Sujata Bhatt, Tabish Khair, Vikram Seth, Vijay Seshadri and Yuyutsu Sharma among others.

Anthology

In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts, usually collected into a single volume for publication.

Although Indian English Poetry dates back to the 19th century it was only in the 1950s that a comprehensive anthology of Indian English Poetry was published. Early efforts in the publication of Indian English Poetry anthologies were made in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s but they were extremely infrequent and made very little impact. However, since the 1950s there has been a steady amount of anthologies published every decade.

List of Poetry Anthologies

Early Indian English Poetry Anthologies

India in Song: Eastern Themes in English Verse by British and Indian Poets (1918) ed. Theodore Douglas Dunn and published by H. Milford
The Bengali Book of English Verse (1918) ed. Theodore Douglas Dunn and Rabindranath Tagore
An Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry (1927) ed. by Gwendoline Goodwin and published by J. Murray
An Anthology of Indo-Anglian Verse (1935) ed. by A. R. Chinda
The Peacock Lute: Anthology of Poems in English by Indians (1945) ed. and published by V. N. Bhushan, Padma Publications, Bombay
This Strange Adventure: An Anthology of Poems in English by Indians 1828-1946 (1947) ed. Fredoon Kabraji and published by New India Pub. Co., London

1950s

Modern Indian Poetry (1958) ed. by A.V. Rajeswara Rau and published by Kavita, New Delhi
Modern Indo-Anglian Poetry (1959) ed. by P. Lal & K. Raghavendra Rao and published by Kavita, New Delhi

1960s

During the 1960s the publication of Indian English Poetry Anthologies took place outside of India mostly in America and in the United Kingdom. See list of Indian English Poetry Anthologies Published Abroad below.

1970s

The Golden Treasury of Indo-Anglian Poetry (1828–1965) (1970) ed. by Vinayak Krishna Gokak and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
Modern Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology & A Credo (1971) ed. by P. Lal and published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta
Contemporary Indian Poetry in English (1972) ed. by Peeradina and published by Laxmi Publication, New Delhi
Indian Poetry in English (1947–1972) (1972) ed. by Pritish Nandy and published by Oxford & IBH Pub. Co., New Delhi
Contemporary Indian Poetry in English: An Assessment and Selection (1972) ed. by Saleem Peeradina and published by Macmillan Co. of India, Nagpur
Indian Poetry in English Today (1974) ed. by Pritish Nandy and published by Sterling Publication, New Delhi
An Anthology of Indo-English Poetry (1974) ed. by Gauri Deshpande and published by Hind Pocket Books, New Delhi
New Writing in India (1974) ed. by Adil Jussawalla and published by Penguin Books Ltd., New Delhi
Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets (1976) ed. by R. Parthasarathy and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
An Anthology of Indian Love Poetry (1976) ed. by Subash Saha and published by Prayer Books/ Firma KLM
Indian Verse in English: A Contemporary Anthology (1977) ed. by Syed Ameeruddin and published by Poets Press India, Madras
Strangertime: An Anthology of Indian Poetry in English (1977) ed. by Pritish Nandy and published by Hind Pocket Books, New Delhi
Hundred Indian Poets: An Anthology of Modern Poetry (1977) ed. by Pranab Bandyopadhyay and published by Oxford India, New Delhi

1980s

Indian Verse by Young Poets (1980) ed. by Pranab Bandyopadhyay and published by United Writers, Calcutta
Two Decades of Indian Poetry (1960–1980) (1980) ed. by K. N. Daruwalla and published by Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi
Indian Poetry in English: A Literary History and Anthology (1980) ed. by Amar Nath Dwivedi and published by Humanities Press
19 Poets: An Anthology of Contemporary Indo-English Poetry (1981) ed. by Keshav Malik and Manohar Bandopadhyay and published by Prachi Prakashan, New Delhi
New Voices in Indo-English Verse (1981) ed. by Syed Ameeruddin and published by Poets Press India, Madras
New Dimensions in Indo-English Poetry (1981) ed. by O. P. Bhatnagar and published by The Rajasthan Journal of English Studies (Nos. 13 and 14), Amravati
Modern Trends in Indo-Anglian Poetry (1982) ed. by H. S. Bhatia and published by Sita Publications International, Punjab
The Lotus: An Anthology of Contemporary Indian Religious Poetry in English (1988) ed. by Prabhu Guptara and published by Writers Workshop Calcutta
An Anthology of Indian English Poetry (1989) ed. by R. P. Singh & S. K. Prasad and published by Orient BlackSwan, Hyderabad
Indian English Poetry Since 1950: An Anthology (1989) ed. by Vilas Sarang and published by Orient BlackSwan, Hyderabad

1990s

Twenty Indian Poems (1990) ed. by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Modern Indian Poetry in English (1991) ed. by Ayyappa Paniker & Various and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets (1992) ed. by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
An Anthology of New Indian English Poetry (1993) ed. by Makarand Paranjape and published by Rupa & Company, New Delhi
Indian Poetry in English (1993) ed. by Makarand Paranjape and published by Macmillan, Bombay
The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry (1994) ed. by Vinay Dharwadker & A. K. Ramanujan and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Nine Indian Women Poets: An Anthology (1997) ed. by Eunice de Souza and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Accent on Indian English Poetry (1998) ed. by Ed. H. S. Shivaprakash and published by Indian Literature Special issue (No.4. issue 186) Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
A Decade of Poetry (1997–98) eds. Prabhanjan K. Mishra, Menka Shivdasani, Jerry Pinto and Ranjit Hoskote Special edition (Vols. 6 and 7) of Poiesis : A Journal of Poetry Circle, Bombay

2000s

Indian Poetry in English (2000) ed. by Makarand Paranjape and published by Laxmi Publications, New Delhi
A New Book of Indian Poems In English (2000) ed. by Gopi Kottoor and published by Poetry Chain and Writers Workshop, Calcutta
Twenty Indian Poems (2001) ed. by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Reasons for Belonging: Fourteen Contemporary Indian Poets (2002) ed. by Ranjit Hoskote and published by Viking, New Delhi
Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from the Northeast (2003) ed. by Robin S. Ngangom and Kynpham Singh Nongkyrih and published by NEHU Publications, Shillong
An Anthology of Indian Poems: Native Petals (2005) ed. by Prof. (Dr.) Jancy James, Prof.(Dr.) Usha Menon, & Prof. M.Bhaskara Prasad. Published by Poetree Garden, Kerala University P.O., Trivandrum-695 034, Kerala, India.
Confronting Love: Poems (2005) ed. by Jerry Pinto & Arundhati Subramanian and published by Penguin Books India, New Delhi
Poetry with Young People (2007) ed. by Gieve Patel and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
60 Indian Poets (2008) ed. by Jeet Thayil and published by Penguin Books India, New Delhi
The Golden Treasure of Writers Workshop Poetry (2008) ed. by Rubana Huq and published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta
We Speak in Changing Languages: Indian Women Poets (1990–2007) (2009) ed. by Ramakrishnan, E. V. and Anju Makhija and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
Dancing Earth: An Anthology of Poetry from North-East India (2009) ed. by Robin S. Ngangom & Kynpham S. Nongkynrih and published by Penguin Books India, New Delhi

2010s

The Oxford Anthology of Writings from North East India – Poetry and Essays (2010) ed. by Tilottoma Misra and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
Early Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology (1829–1947) (2010) ed. by Eunice de Souza and published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
A Collection of Indian English Poetry (2011) ed. by Radha Mohan Singh and published by Orient BlackSwan, Hyderabad
The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry (2012) ed. by Sudeep Sen and published by HarperCollins, Noida ISBN 9789350290415
These My Words: The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry (2012) ed. by Eunice de Souza and Melanie Silgardo and published by Penguin Books India, New Delhi
Ten: New Indian Poetry (2012) ed. by Jayanta Mahapatra & Yuyutsu Sharma and published by Nirala Publications, New Delhi
The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India (2013) ed. by Vivekanand Jha and published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada
Exiled Among Natives (2013) eds. by Prof. Charu Sheel Singh, Dr. Binod Mishra and published by Adhyayan Publishers, New Delhi
Scaling Heights : An Anthology of Contemporary Indian English Poetry (2013) eds. by Dr. Gopal Lahiri and Dr. Kirti Sengupta and published by Authorspress, New Delhi
Suvarnarekha: An Anthology of Indian Women Poets Writing in English (2014) ed. by Dr. Nandini Sahu and published by The Poetry Society of India, New Delhi
Tattooed with Taboos: An Anthology of Poetry by Three Women from Northeastern India(2015) ed. by Chaoba Phuritshabam, Shreema Ningombam & Soibam Haripriya and published by Partridge India, New Delhi
Contemporary Indian English Poetry: The Enchanting Verses Literary Review special edition: (2015) ed. by Abhay K and published by The Enchanting Verses Literary Review.
Dilli: An Anthology of Women Poets of Delhi (2014) ed.by Semeen Ali and published by Poets Printery, South Africa & New Delhi
40 Under 40: An Anthology of Post-Globalisation (2016) ed. by Nabina Das & Semeen Ali and published by Paperwall Media & Publishing, Mumbai
Trainstorm : An Anthology of Alternative Train Poetry (2016) ed. by Amitabh Mitra and published by Poets Printery, South Africa & New Delhi
Home Thoughts: Poems from British Indian Diaspora (2017) ed. by Usha Kishore and Jaydeep Sarangi and published by Cyberwit India, Allahabad
Trips and Trials : A Selection of Poems and Songs (2018) ed. by Jayshree Misra Tripathi and published by PepperScript, Delhi
Travelogue : The Grand Indian Express (2018) ed. by Dr. Ananad Kumar and published by Authorspress, New Delhi
100 Great Indian Poems (2018) ed. by Abhay K. and published by Bloomsbury India, New Delhi
100 More Great Indian Poems (2019) ed. by Abhay K. and published by Bloomsbury India, New Delhi
Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians (2019) ed. by Sudeep Sen and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi
The Lie of the Land (2019) ed. by Goutam Karmakar and published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi

2020s

The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems (2020) ed. by Abhay K. and published by Bloomsbury India, New Delhi
PEACOCKS IN A DREAM: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ENGLISH VERSE (2020) ed. by Inam Hussain Mullick and Subrata Biswas and published by The Alternative
The Great Indian Anthology Vol. 1 (2020) published by Half Baked Beans, New Delhi
The World The Belongs To Us: An Anthology of Queer Poetry from South Asia (2020) ed. by Aditi Angriras and Akhil Katyal and published by HarperCollins, New Delhi
Open Your Eyes: An Anthology on Climate Change (2020) ed. by Vinita Agrawal and published by Hawakal Publishers, Kolkata
Singing in the Dark: A Global Anthology of Poetry under Lockdown(2020) ed. by K. Satchidanandan and Nishi Chawla and published by Penguin Random House, New Delhi
Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems (2020) ed. by Abhay K. and published by Bloomsbury India, New Delhi
A Poem a Day (2020) ed. by Gulzar and published by HarperCollins India, New Delhi
Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English: 2020-2021 (2021) ed. by Sukrita Paul Kumar and Vinita Agrawal and published by Hawakal Publishers, Kolkata
The Penguin Book of Indian Poets (2022) ed. by Jeet Thayil and published by Penguin Hamish Hamilton, New Delhi

Indian English Poetry Anthologies Published Abroad

An Anthology of Commonwealth Verse (1963) ed. by Margaret J. O’Donnell and published by Blackie & Son, London
Young Commonwealth Poets (1965) ed. by P. L. Brent and published by Heinemann Publishers, London
Commonwealth Poets of Today (1967) ed. by Howard Sergeant and published for the English Association by Murray
Indian Love Poems (1967) ed. by Tambimuttu and John Piper (ill) and published by Peter Pauper Press, Mt Vernon, NY, United States
New Voices of the Commonwealth (1968) ed. by Howard Sergeant and published by Evans Bros., United Kingdom
Poems from India (1969) ed. by Daisy Alden and published by Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, United States
Pergamon Poets 9: Poetry from India (1970) ed. by Howard Sergeant and published by Pergamon Press, United Kingdom
Penguin Modern Poets Volume 2 (1970) ed. by D. M. Black, P. Redgrove and D. M. Thomas and published by Penguin Books Ltd., United Kingdom
Contemporary Indian Poetry (1990) ed. by Kaiser Haq and published by Ohio State University Press, United States
Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry (2004) ed. by Menka Shivdasani and published by Michael Rothenberg, Big Bridge United States
The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets (2008) ed. by Jeet Thayil and published by Bloodaxe Books Ltd., United Kingdom
Mapping the Nation: An Anthology of Indian Poetry in English (1870–1920) (2012) ed. by Sheshalatha Reddy and published by Anthem Press, London
The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India (2013) ed. by Vivekanand Jha and published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada
Converse: Contemporary English Poetry by Indians (2022) ed. by Sudeep Sen and published by Pippa Rann Books, United Kingdom

References

Naik, M.K. Literary Criticism of Indian Poetry in English.
Arwind, Deepika (Jan 18, 2010). "Simplifying poetry". The Hindu. Retrieved Nov 19, 2017.
"INDIANPOEM.COM -". www.indianpoetry.org. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
Singh, Nishikanta (Nov 16, 2017). "Meeting the Poets of the book "Tattooed with Taboos"".
The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, Nov 2015
100 More Great Indian Poems Bloomsbury India, 1 January 2019

Books

Naik, M.K. A History of Indian English Literature. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2016. (ISBN 978-81-260-1872-7)
King, Bruce. Modern Indian Poetry in English. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004. (ISBN 978-01-956-7197-1)
Chaudhuri, Rosinka. A History of Indian Poetry in English. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2017. (ISBN 978-13-166-4652-6)
de Souza, Eunice. Early Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology: 1829-1947. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2005 (ISBN 978-01-980-6680-4)
Arora, Sudhir K. "Cultural And Philosophical Reflections In Indian Poetry In English" (5 volumes). Authorspress, New Delhi, 2016 (ISBN 978-93-520-7206-4)

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