Hoshang Merchant

Hoshang Merchant
Hoshang Merchant
Born	1947 (age 76–77); Mumbai, India
Occupation	Writer, Poet
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	St. Xavier's College, Mumbai
Genre	Poetry
Notable works	Flower to Flame; Selected Poems; Bellagio Blues;

Hoshang Dinshaw Merchant (born 1947) is an Indian poet.^[1] He is a preeminent voice of gay liberation in India^[2] and modern India’s first openly gay poet.^[3]^[4] Merchant is best known for his anthology on gay writing titled Yaarana.^[5]

Early years and education

Merchant was born in 1947 to a working class Zoroastrian family in Mumbai, India. He was educated at Xavier's Lads Academy and St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He has a Masters from Occidental College, Los Angeles. At Purdue, he studied Renaissance and Modernism, and for his PhD (1981), wrote a dissertation on Anaïs Nin. He has lived and taught in Heidelberg, Jerusalem and Iran where he was exposed to various radical movements of the Left.^[6] Merchant is openly gay and is as old as India' independence.^[7]^[8]

Writers Workshop in Kolkata, India has published seventeen books of his poetry since 1989. Rupa and Co. published his book of poems Flower to Flame in 1992 in the New Poetry in India series. The Rockefeller got him Bellagio Blues (2004).^{[clarification needed]} Yaraana: Gay Writing from India (Penguin, 1999), Forbidden Sex/Texts (Routledge, 2009), Indian Homosexuality (Allied, 2010), The Man Who Would Be Queen: Autobiographical Fiction (Penguin, 2012) and Sufiana: Poems (2013) are among his notable works.

Teacher, poet and critic

Since the mid-80s, Hoshang Merchant has made his home in Hyderabad, where he taught English at University of Hyderabad.^[7]

He has written 20 books of poetry, and four critical studies. He edited India's first gay anthology Yaraana: Gay Writing from India.^[9] Secret Writings of Hoshang Merchant (OUP: New Delhi, 2016), edited by Akshaya K. Rath, is his most recent publication.^[10]

Works

Poetry

Stone to Fruit (1989, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Yusuf in Memphis (1991, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Hotel Golkonda: Poems 1991 (1992, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Flower to Flame (1992, Delhi: Rupa & Co.)
The Home, the Friend and the World (1995, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Jonah and the Whale (1995, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Love's Permission (1996, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
The Heart in Hiding (1996, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
The Birdless Cage (1997, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Talking to the Djinns (1997, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Selected Poems (1999, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Bellagio Blues (2004, Hyderabad: Otherwise Books, Spark-India)
Homage to Jibanananda Das (2005, Contemporary World Poetry Series, London: Aark Arts)

Critical studies

In-discretions: Anaïs Nin (1990, Calcutta: Writers Workshop)
Forbidden Sex, Forbidden Texts (2008, Delhi: Routledge)

Edited

Yaarana: Gay Writing from India (1999, New Delhi: Penguin)^[11]

Appearances in the following poetry Anthologies

Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry (2004) ed. by Menka Shivdasani and published by Michael Rothenberg, Big Bridge United States.^[12]
The Penguin Book Of Indian Poets (2022) ed. by Jeet Thayil and published by Penguin Random House India.^[13]

Accolades

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2023	N/A	Rainbow Awards	Lifetime Achievement	Won	^[14]

References

^ Karri, Sriram (20 August 2021). "Words of a gay poet, as old as India's Independence, heal". The Asian Age. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
^ ""Society is more open to the LGBT community now" - Hoshang Dinshaw Merchant". The Times of India. 5 December 2016. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
^ Foundation, Poetry (4 April 2023). "Hoshang Merchant". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
^ H, Sara (8 June 2021). "The Prose & Pain Of Hoshang Merchant, India's First Openly Queer Poet". Homegrown. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
^ Nanisetti, Serish (10 September 2018). "'Homosexuality is endemic where capitalism thrives,' says Hoshang Merchant". The Hindu. thehindu.com.
^ "Channel 6 - the Twin Cities, Hyderabad and Secunderabad Tourism Guide, Travellers Magazine". Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2009."Hoshang Merchant - The Poetry of Jalwah" by Aparajita Roy Sinha, Channel6magazine.com, accessed 27 October 2009
^ ^a ^b Merchant, Hoshang (20 August 2001). "Sar Pe Lal Topi Parsi". Outlook. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
^ "76 years of India and Hoshang Merchant". The Hindu. 11 August 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
^ Rath, Akshaya K. (2014). "'Either Sink or Swim!': An Interview with Hoshang Merchant". The Challenge. 23 (1).
^ "Secret Writings of Hoshang Merchant". india.oup.com.
^ "Yaraana: Edited by Hoshang Merchant". parsikhabar.net. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
^ "Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry - Hoshang Merchant". bigbridge.org. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
^ "200. What Makes an 'Indian' Poet | Featuring 9 Poets". Bangalore International Centre. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
^ Sharma, Saurabh (11 December 2023). "Rainbow Lit Fest 2023: Winners of the inaugural Rainbow Awards for Literature and Journalism announced". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023.

External links

Hoshang Merchant: A Critical Biography by Bhaskar Lama
Hoshang Merchant: Poet, Teacher, Lover
"Sar Pe Lal Topi Parsi" by Hoshang Merchant, Outlook.com, 20 August 2001, accessed 27 October 2009
"Hoshang Merchant - The Poetry of Jalwah" by Aparajita Roy Sinha, Channel6magazine.com, accessed 27 October 2009

[1] Karri, Sriram (20 August 2021). "Words of a gay poet, as old as India's Independence, heal". The Asian Age. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

[2] ""Society is more open to the LGBT community now" - Hoshang Dinshaw Merchant". The Times of India. 5 December 2016. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

[3] Foundation, Poetry (4 April 2023). "Hoshang Merchant". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

[4] H, Sara (8 June 2021). "The Prose & Pain Of Hoshang Merchant, India's First Openly Queer Poet". Homegrown. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

[5] Nanisetti, Serish (10 September 2018). "'Homosexuality is endemic where capitalism thrives,' says Hoshang Merchant". The Hindu. thehindu.com.

[6] "Channel 6 - the Twin Cities, Hyderabad and Secunderabad Tourism Guide, Travellers Magazine". Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2009."Hoshang Merchant - The Poetry of Jalwah" by Aparajita Roy Sinha, Channel6magazine.com, accessed 27 October 2009

[OL-7] Merchant, Hoshang (20 August 2001). "Sar Pe Lal Topi Parsi". Outlook. Retrieved 29 April 2018.

[8] "76 years of India and Hoshang Merchant". The Hindu. 11 August 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 August 2023.

[9] Rath, Akshaya K. (2014). "'Either Sink or Swim!': An Interview with Hoshang Merchant". The Challenge. 23 (1).

[10] "Secret Writings of Hoshang Merchant". india.oup.com.

[11] "Yaraana: Edited by Hoshang Merchant". parsikhabar.net. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2019.

[12] "Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry - Hoshang Merchant". bigbridge.org. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2019.

[13] "200. What Makes an 'Indian' Poet | Featuring 9 Poets". Bangalore International Centre. Retrieved 11 April 2023.

[:22-14] Sharma, Saurabh (11 December 2023). "Rainbow Lit Fest 2023: Winners of the inaugural Rainbow Awards for Literature and Journalism announced". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023.

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