Quick Facts
Biography
Surjit Patar (born 14 January 1945) is a Punjabi language writer and poet of Punjab, India. His poems enjoy immense popularity with the general public and have won high acclaim from critics.
Biography
Patar hails from village Pattar (ਪੱਤੜ) Kalan in Jalandhar distt from where he got his surname. He did his graduation from Randhir College, Kapurthala and then went on to do Master's degree from Punjabi University, Patiala and then a PhD in Literature on "Transformation of Folklore in Guru Nanak Vani" from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He then joined the academic profession and retired as Professor of Punjabi from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He started writing poetry in mid-sixties. Among his works of poetry are "Hawa Vich Likhe Harf" (Words written in the Air), Birkh Arz Kare (Thus Spake the Tree), Hanere Vich Sulagdi Varnmala (Words Smouldering in the Dark), Lafzaan Di Dargah (Shrine of Words), Patjhar Di Pazeb (Anklet of Autumn) and Surzameen (Music Land )
He has translated into Punjabi the three tragedies of Federico García Lorca, the play Nag Mandala of Girish Karnad, and poems of Bertolt Brecht and Pablo Neruda. He has also adapted plays from Jean Giradoux, Euripides and Racine. He has written tele-scripts on Punjabi poets from Sheikh Farid to Shiv Kumar Batalvi.
He is the president of Punjab Sahit Academy, Chandigarh. In the past he has held the office of the President, Punjabi Sahit Akademi, Ludhiana.
Well known poems
"Candles", "Hanere vich sulagdi Varanmala", "Aiya Nand Kishore","Hanera Jarega Kiven" and others.
Filmography
Surjit Patar has written dialogues of the Punjabi movie Shaheed Uddham Singh and Videsh, the Punjabi version of Deepa Mehta's movie Heaven on Earth.
Awards
- 1979 Punjab Sahitya Akademi Award
- 1993: Sahitya Akademi Award for Hanere vich Sulghdi Varnmala
- 1999: Panchnad Puruskar by Bhartiya Bhasha Parishad, Kolkata
- 1999 Bhartiya Bhasha Prishad, Kolkata
- 2007-2008 Anad Kav Sanman
- 2009: Saraswati Samman by K.K.Birla foundation.
- 2009 Gangadhar National Award for Poetry, Sambalpur University, Orissa
- 2012: Padma Shri Award in the field of Literature and Education (fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India)
- 2014 Kusumagraj Literary Award-2014