Mohan Rana (b. 1964) is a Hindi poet who grew up and studied in Delhi and now lives in Bath, England. He writes poems exploring themes of identity, truth, memories and nature. He has published eight poetry collections in Hindi, Jagah (Dwelling, 1994), Jaise Janam Koi Darwaza (As If Life Were a Door, 1997), Subah ki Dak (Morning’s Post, 2002), Is Chhor Par (On This Shore, 2003), Pathar Ho Jayegi Nadi (Stone-River, 2007) Dhoop Ke Andhere Mein (In the Darkness of the Sun, 2008), Ret ka Pul (Bridge of Sand, 2012) and Shesh Anek (Much Remains, 2016). His published bilingual chapbooks include Poems (2011) with translations by Bernard O’Donoghue and Lucy Rosenstein and Vivir (2016), a chapbook of Spanish translations.
With each book his reputation as a diaspora poet has grown. Brevity, clarity and precision are defining characteristics of Mohan Rana’s poetry. The poet and critic, Nandkishore Acharya, has written that, ‘Amongst the new generation of Hindi poets, the poetry of Mohan Rana stands alone; it defies any categorisation. However, its refusal to fit any ideology doesn’t mean that Mohan Rana’s poetry shies away from thinking – but that it knows the difference between thinking in verse and thinking about poetry. For Mohan Rana the poetic process in itself is also a thought process.’
He has given poetry readings in India, UK and Europe. He has participated in the Ledbury Poetry Festival (2011), Stanza International Poetry Festival (2014), New Delhi World Book Fair (2014), Slovenian Book Fair Ljubljana (2016), English Pen Literary Salon at London Book Fair (2017) and Odisha Art & Literature Festival, Bhubaneswar; India (2018).
His poems have been translated into Belarusian, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, German, Croatian, Slovenian, Marathi and Nepali.
