Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy

Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy (born 22 September 1954) is a noted Indian speaker, poet and writer supporting the voice of Dalits and unprevilaged communities .[1][2] His writings advocates for eradicating caste system, untouchability and against fundamentalism. His works have been translated into various Indian languages, English, Spanish. He has been conferred with Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award.

Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy ಮೂಡ್ನಾಕೂಡು ಚಿನ್ನಸ್ವಾಮಿ
Born	(1954-09-22) 22 September 1954 Mudnakudu, Mysore State, India
Occupation	Writer Poet Financial Advisor
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	M.Com. M.A.(Kan). D.Lit
Period	1989–present
Genre	Dalit Literature
Notable awards	Karnataka Rajyotsava Award Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award

Early life

Born on 22 September 1954 in the village Mudnakudu of Chamarajanagar dist. in the state of Karnataka, India in a dalit family. His father was Basavarjaiah and mother Gowramma. He has M.Com. M.A.(Kan). D.Lit., as educational qualifications. He has served as Financial Advisor in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation[3] and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

Works

Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy's first collection of poetry, "Kondigalu Matthu Mullubeligalu" (Links and barbed fences) published in 1989[4] brought a new wave of change in otherwise stagnant Kannada Dalit-Bandaya (protest) Poetry and appreciated by critics, writers and poetry lovers. And so far, six collections of poetry have been published. The essence of the poetry is dalit experiences which are empirical in nature and expressed with intensity which attracted discussions and deliberations in the literary circles. Prof. Dharanendra Kurakuri has translated selected poems into Hindi and were published by Amar Prakashan, Kanpur in 2001 under the caption ‘Angar Ki Choti Per’ (Over the mountain of embers)

Prof.Rowena Hill (es), a British born Venezuelan poet has translated 47 selected poems into Spanish and English.[5][6] A Spanish literary magazine from Columbia Arquitrave has published 10 of them in its June 2003 issue. The Spanish version has been later published by the Cultural dept. of Venezuelan Govt., (CONAC) in 2004 under ‘world poetry series’. And the English translation has been published by ‘erbacce press’ Liverpool, UK in 2016. Poems have also been translated into Hebrew Indian vernaculars like Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu.

As many as 27 poems and a play have been prescribed as curriculum in the language text books of various courses by the Government of Karnataka,[7] Government of Maharashtra, CBSC, New Delhi, and Universities in Karnataka and West Bengal, also in UK. Apart from poetry he has also worked in other genres of literature and brought out collections of short stories, essays, plays and monographs etc.,

Awards and honours

He has been felicitated with Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award[8][9] in 2009 and Karnataka State Rajyotsava Award[10] in 2014 for life time achievement.

List of works

His contribution to Kannada literature are listed below.

Poetry

• Kondigalu mattu Mullubeligalu – 1989
• Godhooli – 1993
• Nanondu Maravagiddare – 1998
• Chappali Mattu Nanu – 2001
• Kanakambari – 2004
• Matte Male Baruva Munna – 2000
• Chandirana Kannu Hingalarada Hunnu – 2005 (Selected Poems)
• Buddha Beladingalu – 2010

Plays

• Kendamandala – 1990
• Mooru Beedi Natakagalu – 2004
• Bahuroopi (Poetry drama) – 2003
• Mudnakudu Natakagalu – 2010

Essays

• Nondavara Novu – 2002
• Maathu Manthana – 2004
• Ondu koda halina samara – 2008
• Aparimitada Kattale – 2010
• Chinnudi – 2015

Short Stories

• Mohada Deepa – 1999
• Papa prajne – 2015

Monograph

• Bhima Boyi – 1994
• Belakina Saradararu – 2015

Letters

• Ole Okkane – 2005

Translations

• Yuva Bouddharigondu Darshana – 2002
• Deegha Nikaya – 2012 (Revision for Mahabodhi Society, Bengaluru)
• Dalita Darshana – 2014

Edited

• Dalita Kathegalu – 1996 (for Karnataka Sahitya Academy)
• Kavya Bangara – 2005
• Poems of Dasara Poets' meet – 2004
• Marali Manege – 2006 (A souvenir on the event of Buddhanedege… a dalit march for equality commemorating 50th year of Ambedkar's conversion)
• Kavya 2005 – 2008 (for Karnataka Sahitya Academi)

Translated into other Languages

• Angar Ki Choti Per – 2001 (Translated into Hindi by Prof. Dharanendra Kurakuri)
• Poemas: Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy – 2005 (Translated into Spanish by Prof. Rowena Hill)
• Zakhm Kasak Awaz – 2012 (Translated into Urdu by Nooruddin Noor)
• Before It Rains Again – (Translated by Rowena Hill)
• Asmita Ki Khoj – 2010(Translation of "Ondu koda halina samara’ a collection of essays into Hindi by Bhalachandra Jayshetty)

About the Author

• Bayala Belaku – 2008 (Edit: Appagere Somashekara)
• Beyuva Bege – 2012 (A research work on Dr. Mudnakudu by Dr. Mallappa Chalavadi)

See also

• Kannada language
• Kannada literature
• Kannada poetry
• Dalit Literature

References

1. "Dalit Literature: Written in the Margins". OPEN Magazine. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
2. "Progressive writers should support Dalits". Deccan Herald. 22 June 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
3. "Number-crunching his day job, poetry the passion". DNA. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
4. "Kondigalu mattu mullubeligalu / B. Chinnasvami". National Library, Govt of India. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
5. "Sensitive translation of Dalit experience". The Hindu. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
6. Chinnaswamy, Mudnakudu; Hill, Rowena (2017). "A dialogue between Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy and Rowena Hill". The Journal of Commonwealth Literature: 002198941771729. doi:10.1177/0021989417717295.
7. "First Year PU Course Syllabus, Sl No 7" (PDF). Department of PU Education, Karnataka State. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
8. "ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿಯ ಗೌರವ ಪುರಸ್ಕೃತರು" (PDF). Karnataka Sahitya Academy. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
9. "Academy awards for five". The Hindu. 20 April 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
10. "Rajyotsava Awards (2014)". The New Indian Express. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2017.

External links

• Ash only knows the heat of burning, 2 March 2016
• Dalit Poetry in Kannada: Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy