1 BIODATA Born to a Family of Theatre Practioners and Painters, Ashes Was Inherently Inspired to Think of the World in Terms Of
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BIODATA Born to a family of theatre practioners and painters, Ashes was inherently inspired to think of the world in terms of colour. As he grew up, he took to the brush quite naturally. This passion for colours , both on and off canvas, prompted him to pursue a theoretical formulation of colour-usage- colour response application in te xtual space for his doctoral thesis. His love for the North East of India, his homeland, has been the stimulus behind much of his academic and critical work ranging from situating Mamang Dai’s poetry in an authentic NE philosophic and aesthetic paradigm to analyzing the mnemonics of recall foregrounding refugee narratives and comprehending the plebian banter at work in subverting divinity as a remote construct in popular dance performances by the subalterns. As a professor in the department of English, Tripura University, Ashes has been trying to promote NE literature and culture persistently. In his capacity as a documentary film maker on aspects of NE and Tripura, he has created a rich audio-visual archive of lesser known aspects of his homeland. His academic endeavor has been to interrogate the notion of perceived marginality attributed to the North East and to counter such ‘mainstream motives’ by circumscribing an academic and cultural space with NE as the centre. Having widely travelled Ashes has represented the NE and Tripura across various lit. fests such as Goa Art and Literature Fest, Kaziranga Lit. Fest. Guwahati, Rivertalks Guwahati, World Book Fair N. Delhi, Converse Gangtok, to name a few. His remarkable literary works include Colourscapes: Theorising Colours, The Fragrant Joom-Translation of Modern Kokborok Poetry to English, The Fragrant Joom Revisited: A Translation of Modern Kokborok Poetry to English; The Mystic Mountain: An Anthology of Tripura Bangla Poetry in English, The Golden Rendezvous, Phoenix etal. His areas of interest comprises of Indian English Writing, NE writing, culture and aesthetics, Popular Literature and Culture and Film Studies. A few of his significant documentaries are Vanaaj: In Search of Green, Doibee: An Encounter with the Gods and Fading Melodies: Ethnic Musical Instruments of Tripura. Name: Prof. Ashes Gupta Date of Birth: 11.7.1969 E-mail : [email protected] Academic Qualifications : M.A., Ph.D. Present Designation/position : Professor Topics Taught : 1. Indo-Anglian Poetry 2. American poetry, drama, novel, non –fictional prose 3. Popular Literature and Culture ( Science Fiction, Childrens’ Literature and Horror Stories) 4. Modern Poetry 5. Research Methodology and Theory 6. North Eastern Literature and Culture Publications (year wise): 1. Resisting Assimilation: Singh, B.N. ed. Essays on David Williams: A Magnus in David Williams Novelist of the Canadian Prairie, Bareilly: Prakash Book EyeoftheFather.P:75-87 Depot, 1999, ISBN81-85897-55-7 1 2. Translation of Kokborok Indian Literature: Sahitya Akademi Bi-Monthly Journal, Vol. poems and stories to XLIX, No. 35.229; Sep-Oct, 2005. ISSN 0019-5804; Page English. no.43,49,60,61,82,83, 91- 100. 3. Translations of Kokborok and ‘Indian Literature: Sahitya Akademi Bi-monthly Journal’:Vol. Bengali Poetry to I, No.2. 232 March 2006; Page no.22; English. (ISSN 0019 5894) 4. The Fragrant Joom: A Agartala: Akshar Publications, 2006; ISBN 81- 89742-24-8, Translation of Edited, compiled and translated Kokborok Poetry in English 5. Reading Jay anta Ma hap atra’s Sarangi, Joydip. And Jha Gaurishankar ed. The Indian Dawn at Puri as an attempt Imagination of Jayanta Mahapatra. New Delhi: Sarup and towards circumscribing a Sons, 2006; p:69-76. local space against the politic s of univ ersalisation. 6. Re adin g A run Koltk ar’s ‘The ’ Sarangi Jaydip ed.Explorations in Indian English Poetry, New Bus as an exposition of Delhi: Authors Press, 2006;p-132- the vacillating duality of 140. (ISBN 81-7273-370-4) existence’. 7. Translations of Kokborok ‘Indian Literature: Sahitya Akademi Bi-monthly and Bengali Poetry to Journal’: Vol.LI, No.5. 241 Sep-Oct.2007; Page English. no.152,154,155; (ISSN 0019 5894) 8. Translations of Kokbarak Tales and Tunes of Tripura Hills. Ed. Chandrakanta Myths, tales and riddles. Murasingh. Kolkata: Sahitya Akademi, 2007; ISBN 978-81- 260-2586-2;P:67, 129, 136, 145 9. ‘Translation as an act of Translation Today (A biennial peer reviewed Journal by CIIL. Ventriloquism: the Author- Mysore, NBT, India Translator- Hegemony’. & Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. Vol.6 No.1 & 2 2009; p. 107-114. 10. The Golden Rendezvous: An Macmillan India, 2009; ISBN 023-063-906-2, Jointly Edited Anthology of Essays and Short Stories 11. Colourscapes: Theorizing Colours Kolkata: Towards Freedom, 2010. ISBN 81-8206- 0206; .12. The Fading Melody: Proceedings of North East India History Exploring Oral History, Association, 32nd Session, Tripura University, Myth and Musicality of Agartala, 2011; p.598-603. Chongpreng through a Moving Lens. 13. Voicing Colourscapes: Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Colour-usage and An Online Access Online E-Journal. Vol.3. Number 2. 2011; P Response as Alternative 268-300; ‘On Narration in Dennis Contemporary Poetry in English’. ISSN.0975 2935. Cooley’s Bloody Jack. www.rupkatha.com 14. The Violent Pattern: Das, Uday Chand and Himadri Lahiri ed. Violence and its Conceptualising Violence as a Representations. Published by UGC Academic Staff College, The Cultural Construct. University of Burdwan; Burdwan. Aug 2012; p-21-39 (financed by UGC). 15. Living the dream: Sengupta, Jayita ed. Barbed Wire: Borders and Narrating a landscape lost and Partitions in South Asia. Published by Routledge: a land left behind. Taylor and Francis Group, 2012; p: 50-65. ISBN: 978-0-415- 50150-7. 2 16. Translations of Indian Mondal, Somdutta and Soma Mukhopadhyay ed. English poems by Bharatiya Engreji Kobita. Published by Abhijan Harindranath Chattopadhya Publishers Kolkata, Feb.2013; P:41,42,99-101,129- y, Hoshang Merchant and 131 Mamang Dai from English to Bengali. 17. Performing the Divine: Muse India; Issue 58; Nov-Dec 2014. ISSN: 0975- Hara-Gourir Naach an d the 1815. ritual of the http://www.museindia.com damned/blessed body 18. Phoenix: A textbook of Chief Editor, Suggested text book for BA/BSc/B Com, Orient Compulsory English for Blackswan, 2015; ISBN 977881 250 5753 6 Foundation Course for BA/BSc/ BCom of Tripura University 19. Writing life’s little madnesses: Interdisciplinary Journal of Literature and Language Mamang Dai and the weaving (IJLL), 2017 of a magico-poetic gaale 20. Towards digitally archiving The Chitrolekha Journal on Art and Design (E-ISSN 2456-978X), the Sharinda: A Case Study of Vol. 1, No. 2, 2017 the video-documentary mode for showcasing multi- dimensional cultural traces. 21. Ashamed of speaking in the The Indian Journal of English Studies (IJES), Vol.-LV, 2018 mother tongue: negligence and death of Agartala Bangla 22. Compulsory English for B Com. Compulsory Foundation English, TU; Orient Foundation Course of Blackswan: 2015; ISBN 97881 250 5753 6 BA/BSc/ B Com, Tripura University. Seminar/ Workshop/ Conference/ Symposium/ Refresher/ Orientation etc. participated Sl. Title of Conference/ Date Organized by Paper Presented No. Seminar 1. National Seminar on 15th -17th June, Indian Institute of Feminism, Tradition Feminism, Tradition and 2001 Advanced Study and Modernity: An Modernity. Rashtrapati Analysis of the Portrait Nivas, Simla of Indian Women in Television Advertisements th 2. Seminar for Associates 24 June, Indian Institute of Media: Decoding 2005 Advanced Study, Strategies for Analysis. Rashtrapati Nivas, Simla 3. English Translation 16th -18th Sahitya Aka de miand Translations form Workshop August, 2005 North East India Bangla, Kokborok, Poetry Council Chakma, Meitei and Bishnupriya. 3 4. National Seminar on: ‘The 7th April, 2006 Indian Council of Voicing Issues of Identity Tribes, Peasants and Historical in Translation as Modern Identity in North Research and Cultural Production. East India’. Dept. of History, TU th st 5. 2 Day Translation Workshop 30 -31 March, Sahitya Akademi Translations on Kokborok Folk Songs, 2007 Myths and Tales from Kokborok/ Bengali to English 6. Seminar on ‘Nationalism and 15.12.2008 Department of Nationalism and Indian Indian Writing in English’. English, Writing in English. Vidyasagar College for Women, Kolkata. 7. 3-Day National Seminar on 27th -29th Department of Translation as an act of ‘Translation and the Nation’. February, 2008 English, Ventriloquism: the Pondicherry Author-Translator - University and CIIl, Mysore Hegemony. 8. 3 day Workshop and 16th ,17th ,18th Department of Translating the Nation: National Seminar February, 2009 English, Tripura From Map to Song. University and CIIL, Mysore. 9. National Seminar on 14th -15th Tripura Book Production in ‘Production and Marketing Se pte mbe r, Publishers’ Guild Tripura: A Reader’s of Books: Problems and 2009 and National Book Perspective. Prospects in the North Trust, India Eastern States’. nd rd 10. National Seminar titled ‘Post 22 -23 UGC Sponsored Of fear and fantasy, fact Independence Indian English March, and orgnsd. by and fiction: Interrogating 2011. Fiction’ Women’s College, canonical literary Agartala. historiography towards Comprehending partition of Bengal in post- Inde pe nde nc e Indian English fictional space. th th 11. National Seminar on 29 -30 National Book Reading into the ‘Children’s Literature of the March, 2011. Trust, India, Reading Habbits of Northeast: The Changing MHRD, Govt of Children in Tripura Scenario of Reading Habit.’ India and Dept. of Library and Information Science, Mizoram University, Aizawl rd 12. National Seminar organized on 23 April, Akshar Publications, Thinking about books: the eve of World Book Day. 2011 Agartala. evolution of the concept. 13. State level translation 2nd-4th North-East Centre Chakma Folk and workshop. Aug.2011. for Oral Literature Modern Literature (Agartala), (translation to English). Sahitya Akademi. 4 th th 14. North-East India History 17 -19 Nov. NEIHA and Dept. The Fading Melody: Association. 2011 of History, Tripura Exploring Oral History, University, Myth and Musicality of Agartala.