Abhi Subedi

Abhi Subedi (; born June 30, 1945) is a Nepali poet, playwright, columnist, translator and critic, who writes in Nepali and English.

Biography Abhi Subedi was born in Sabla village of Tehrathum district in eastern Nepal. He was the 21st child of his father and the 7th child of his mother. He recognized Bengali letters before Devnagari scripts after seeing his mother read Bengali epic Kashiram Das's Mahabharata.

Education Abhi Subedi was offered a British Council scholarship to the University of Edinburgh in 1978 and completed his post-graduate degree. He wrote about his struggle for education viz a viz the Thatcher government's cut on foreign scholarships and grants and the bureaucratic malice of his university back home.

He earned a Ph.D. on the pragmatics of poetry from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur and did postgraduate work in stylistics and applied linguistics at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Career Subedi started as a teacher of English at Tribhuvan University and after returning from Europe taught stylistics there. He taught for 40 years at the Central Department of English in Tribhuvan University, and headed the department for more than a decade. Subedi is vice-President of the Nepali Folklore Society of Nepal. He is the founding former president of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) UNESCO from 2000 to 2008 and member of International Playwright's Forum from 2000 to 2011. Subedi became President (1990-1992) and two times General Secretary of the Linguistic Society of Nepal. He was also President of the Literary Association of Nepal. He is a member of the International Association of Theatre Critics. He has been involved in a number of interdisciplinary study groups and is a prolific writer on issues of freedom, culture, literature, arts and social transformation. His essays and seminar papers have been published in Nepal and abroad.

Works Subedi has published over two dozen books on different subjects. Several of his plays have been performed by well-known theatre groups in Nepal and abroad.

Books in Nepali Flaneurko Diary (2015/2071) Sahitya ra Aambritta (Criticism) 2013/2070) Chiriyeka Sanjhharu (play) 2011 Nibandhama Uttarbarti Kaalkhanda (essays) 2009 Teen Natak (three plays) 2008 Nibandha ra Tundikhel, 2008 Paanch Natak (five plays) 2004 Carpettangieko Aakaas (essays) 1998 Shavda ra Chot (poems), 1997 Madhyam ra Rachana (literary criticism), 1997 Paschatya Kavy Siddhanta, (Western criticism) 1973 Sirjana ra Mulyankan (literary criticism),1982

Books in English Forever Arriving 2024 (collection of poems) Bruised Evenings 2011 (play) Nepali Theatre as I See It, 2007 Three Plays. Trans Sangita Rayamajhi, 2003 Dreams of Peach Blossoms, 2001, 2012 (play) Ekai Kawaguchi: the Trespassing Insider, 1999 Chasing Dreams: Kathmandu Odyssey, (poetic play) Nepali Literature: Background and History, 1978 Manas (English poems), joint collection with Peter J. Karthak, 1974

Translations, editing and joint collections

Aadhunik Japani Kavita, 1987 Poems of the Century, 2000 Voices from Nepal (joint work), 1999 Beyond Borders: an Anthology of SAARC Poetry, 2002 Japani Haiku: Hijor ra Aaja, 1987 Japani Noh Naatak, 1989 Samakalin Nepali Kavita, 1996 Biswosahityako Aithihashik Rooprekha, 1974 Pacchisbarshakaa Nepali Kavita, 1982

Ecology and Conservation His keynote speech at the Nepal Year of Conservation 2009 UK Celebration hosted by the Zoological Society of London was published in the Kathmandu Post on 25 November 2009. In his address he stated that the plentifulness of animals and the perennial existence of opulent nature was a myth and gave examples of visual dramatisation of animals in relation with hegemonic power structures.

Awards SAARC Literary Award 2010 - Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award 2013