Vinod Joshi

Vinod Joshi (born 13 August 1955) is an Indian poet, writer and literary critic in Gujarati language from Gujarat, India. His notable works include Parantu, a collection of Geet (lyric poetry), Shikhandi, a long narrative poem based on Shikhandi, a character from the Mahābhārata, Radio Natak: Swarup ane Siddhant (Radio Drama: Form and Theory, an abridged Ph.D. thesis), Tundil-tundika, a form of padyavarta, a Gujarati medieval literary genre, and Zalar Vage Zoothadi, a collection of poems. He is the recipient of the Jayant Pathak Puraskar, Critic's award (1986), Kavishwar Dalpatram Award (2013), Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar (2015), Narsinh Mehta Award (2018), Kalapi Award (2018), Darshak Sahitya Sanman Award (2021), Narmad Suvarna Chandrak (2022) and Sahitya Akademi Award (2023).

Early life Vinod Joshi was born on 13 August 1955 in Bhoringda, a village of Amreli district of Gujarat state. His family is a native of Botad. His father, Hargovinddas Joshi, was a Sanskrit scholar, and served as a Panchayat Mantri in rural Saurashtra. Joshi has been influenced by the folkloric Gujarati language of his mother, Lilavati Joshi.

Joshi completed his preschool education at Mohanlal Motichand Balmandir, Gadhada. He completed his primary education at the Government School of Turkha, a village in Botad district, from 1960 to 1966. He received secondary schooling from the N.T.M Government High School, Surendranagar (1967–1968); Sarvoday Vidyalaya, Lathidad (1969), and from the Government High School, Botad (1970).

He is married to Vimal Joshi, and they have a son, Aditya.

Career Vinod Joshi began his career as a Professor of Gujarati literature in 1977 at the H.L. Patel Arts and Commerce College in Bhayavadar, a town near Upleta. From 1978 to 1987, he was a professor at the Kapadia Mahila Arts College, Bhavnagar. He served as a professor and Head of the Gujarati Department at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University from 1988 to 2017. He has also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Vice-Chancellor of the same university. He was convener of Gujarati language at Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi from 2008 to 2012,

Works Vinod Joshi's poetry is infused with images of rural life, mainly through the portrayal of feminine sentiments in Gujarati literature.

Poetry Joshi is critically acclaimed in Gujarati literature for the elegant female sensibility in the sounds, rhymes and rhythms of his Geets (songs). Motifs in his poetry include intense femininity, solitude, social status, and an indefinable individuality, conveyed in images of everyday reality and objects. Parantu was followed in 1985 by Shikhandi. A long narrative poem, Shikhandi is composed in accordance with the rules of Sanskrit prosody. The poem deals with the psyche of Shikhandi and Bhishma, characters from the Mahabharata.

Tundil-tundika (1987), another long narrative poem, is a reinterpretation of the medieval Gujarati padyavaarta form in a modern context. Zalar Vage Zoothadi (1991) is Joshi's critically acclaimed collection of poems.

In 2018, he published Sairandhri, a metrical poem composed in prabandha form with seven cantos, 49 chapters and 1800 lines. It is based on Draupadi, one of the characters of Hindu epic Mahabharata, and depicts a distinct world of Draupadi's thoughts and feelings as a woman during her exiles, using various meters like Chopai and Dohra. Critic Radheshyam Sharma notes the poem for its musicality, figurative language and its depiction of Sringara (the romantic sentiments).

Vinod Joshi's selected poems have been compiled as Kunchi Aapo, Baaijee! by Manilal H. Patel.

Criticism Sonnet (1984) Abhipret (1986) Amrut Ghayal: Vyaktimatta ane Vangmay (1988) (literary criticism of the work of Amrut Ghayal) Udgreev (1995) Nivesh (1995) Radio Natak: Swaroop ane Siddhant (1986; Radio Drama: Form and Theory, an abridged Ph.D. thesis) Vishad (2018) Nirvivaad (2018) Kavyapat (2018) Kavyatat (2018) Kavyarat (2018)

Compilations Neeraksheer (1984 to 2012) Sahityano Aaswad (1992) Raasatarangini (Poems of Botadkar),(1995) Kismat Kureshi Ni 50 Ghazal (1999) Kavyachayan (2006) Aaj Andhar Khushbo bharyo Lagto (Poems of Prahlaad Parekh), (2002) Vijayray Vaidya Smarak Grantha He was awarded the Samarpan Sanman (2018) by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Educational Trust for his Prabandh-Kavya Sairandhree, and the Kalapi Award (2018) by the Indian National Theatre (INT) for his contribution to Gujarati poetry. He received the 2023 Sahitya Akademi Award for the same book.