Poets

Foto: Goethe-Institut / Andrea Fernandes

Neerav Patel was born in 1950. He pioneered the movement of Gujarati Dalit literature, publishing the first ever Gujarati Dalit literary magazine Akrosh in 1978 under the auspices of the Dalit Panther of Gujarat. Short-lived little magazines edited by him or with others (namely Kalo Suraj, Sarvanam, Swaman and Vacha) and organizations (namely Swaman: Foundation for Dalit Literature and Gujarati Dalit Sahitya Pratishthan) founded by him with other writers were instrumental in boosting the movement. Burning from Both Ends, What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue, Bahishkrit Phoolo, Gujarati Dalit Kavita and Severed Tongue Speaks Out are some of his works on Dalit poetry in English and Gujarati. He is the president of the Gujarati Dalit Sahitya Pratishthan.

Poems

અમે અલ્ટ્રા-ફેશનેબલ લોકો /
we the ultra fashionable people

મારો શામળિયો /
My Lord

હું ન ડોશી
me and my old woman

ફૂલવાડો /
Ostracized flowers