Vivek Sharma, as a poet (/ kavi – कवि ) and a writer
Vivek Sharma’s first book of verse The Saga of a Crumpled Piece of Paper (Writers Workshop, Calcutta, 2009) was shortlisted for Muse India Young Writer Award 2011. His work in English appears in Atlanta Review, Bateau, Mythium, The Cortland Review, Muse India, and Reading Hour, among others while his Hindi articles and verses appear in Divya Himachal (Hindi newspaper, India), Himachal Mitra and Argala. Vivek grew up in Himachal Pradesh (Himalayas, India), and moved to the United States in 2001. Vivek is a Pushcart-nominated poet, is published as a scientist and he currently resides in Chicago.
Books
Saga of a Crumpled Piece of Paper (63 Poems, English)
ISBN: 9788181578518; Publisher, Prof. P. Lal, Writers Workshop, Calcutta.
Limited Edition. Gold embossed, hand-stitched, hand-pasted and hand-bound by Tulamiah Mohiuddin, with handloom saree cloth & printed by Abhijit Nath in a Lake Gardens Press.
with an Introduction by Thomas Lux (Read Here: ThomasLux_IntroforVivekSharma)
Book can be ordered from Scholars with Borders, More info about the book.
Recordings
Recital (Art@Tech, invited by Poetry at Tech program at Georgia Institute of Technology, Feb 2014,
includes an introduction by Thomas Lux, and a Hindi translation of a poem It’s The Little Towns I Like by Thomas Lux
Published in literary magazines and journals (English, 91+)
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Poetry (Dec 2007): “Letter to the Editor” Read here
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The Cortland Review: (Feb 2008) “Your Face” * Read or listen here; (2017) A tribute to my Mentor, Thomas Lux Read Here; (Nov 2009) “Breadwinner” Read Here
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New Verse News: “Half-Happy with India Turning into a Trillion Dollar Economy” (Nominated for the Pushcart Prize) Read here; (Nov 2008) “Mumbai Burns” Read Here; (July 2010) “Beaten but not Bruised” Read Here; (July 2015) “Kill the Fabulists” Read Here; (Feb 2011) “Wage Your Fist” Read Here; Abandoned Punjabi Bride (June 2023)
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Atlanta Review (Spring 2009): “Maghi Tyohaar: The Goat Festival” ** (Reposted at my blogsite)
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Kartika Review (Summer 2009): “Coke Story” ** (Read here)
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Bateau (Spring 2009): “My Verses” *
- Nilab (July 2010): “Introspective Desi” ** (Reposted at my blogsite)
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Mythium (August 2011): “Twenty-first Century Incarnation of the Snake God” ** (Reposted at my blogsite), “Lotuses of Misquotes” (Read here), “Vedanta” **, “Flotsam”, “You’re a Festival”
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Nefarious Bellarina (Fall 2010 & Spring 2011): “Naked Translated World”, “Punjabi English”, “Bottoms-up Girl”(Read here) and “Devout your Lips”* (Read here)
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Poets for Living Waters (Fall 2010): “Missive to Ancestors” * and “I must”.* (Read here)
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Breakwater Review (Fall 2010): “Fatherless” ** (Read at my blogsite)
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Mastodon Dentist (Fall 2010): “Choicest Wife for a North Indian Son” (Reposted at my blogsite)
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Muse India (March 2011) “Commit to Amnesia my Name”*, 1990**, “Eclipsing the myths and discovering America”**, “Saffron”, “Gifted Loneliness”*, “Dinkar’s Fist” and “Lexicon of God”*. (Read at Muse India);
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Muse India (2014): “Twentieth Century Buddha”, “Anagram”, “An Olympian Heart”, and
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Muse India (2016): “Virus”, “Riding a Harrow”, “Advice from Saraswati and the Muses”, “Excerpts of a Sermon by a Vedic Sage”,
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Reading Hour: “Bravado”; Ghazal, An Eastern Inheritance (Essay); “Twelve Thousand a Day Stillborn”
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A Handful of Dust (June 2011): “Explosive Droplets” (Read here as a repost)
- The Ghazals Page (2012, Issue 1): “Your Kamuk Eyes”*, “Refugees in Love”*, “Almond-Breath Assassin”*, “Deified War”*.
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Contemporary Ghazals (2013): “Amorous Clouds”* and “In English”*.
- Indian Review: “Volunteer Our Story”*, “Poetry Of The Waste”, “Dear God: Are You A Capitalist?”, “Question The Question”*, “The Battle Of A Monster Ant & A Black Widow Spider”, “Focus On The Lotus”, and “Swansong of Courage and Faith”.
- Terminus (2016): “Disposable Gods”
- Matwaala Anthology (2019): “Bhangolu or Grandma’s Roasted Bhang Seeds”, “Running Downhill with Daadi” and “Testimony of a Fourteen-Year-old Almost Woman”
- Cha (2019): “Saga of Naniji’s Daal” and “The Haircut Revolution“
- Lumina (2019): “As if Ghosts Exist”
- Nur Melange: A Ghazal Anthology (2024): “From Ganga to Rhine Beloved”; “Blasphamoeus Apostle”; “Words”
- Physics of Fluids: Bird of Transport
- Rheology Bulletin (2023): Explosive Droplets
- Muse India (2023): Mausoleum of Qaint Homes”, “Last visit to Grandma’s Sister”, “A Sequestered Westerner”
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*Ghazal in English (26)
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** Village poems (39)
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Hindi Columns and Verses for
-Divya Himachal (Newspaper in Himachal Pradesh, India)
-himachal.us (Web-based newspaper associated with NGO My Himachal)
-aakhar.org
Contributing writer
My Himachal website: (http://himachal.us)
Blogzines: desicritics.org & blogcritics.org
and so on
Poetry Recitals
Hindi
14th Annual India Poetry Reading, Harvard University, Cambridge. May 2010
12th Annual India Poetry Reading, Harvard University, Cambridge. May 2009
Shaam-e-shauq (Invited), Monkey Town, Brooklyn, New York. March 2009
Hindi Urdu Sanjhe Bol, Emory University, Atlanta. Dec 2007
Hasya Kavi Sammelan, IIT Delhi. 2000
Hindi Divas, IIT Delhi (1997-2001)
English
Poetry@Tech Reading featuring Jeffrey McDaniel, Jon Sands and Vivek Sharma. Tech Arts Festival, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Feb 20, 2014.
Open Mike readings various (including Rhino reads in Chicago &
Solo reading in Artists Beyond Desks (ABD) series at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 2010.
Bay state underground series, 2010.
Summer Seminar for Writers at Sarah Lawrence College, New York (2006, 2007 & 2008)
Other writings at
Random Thoughts of a Chaotic Being (@ Blogspot, here)
Book Reviews on Amazon (Read here)
*The image from a recital at Hindi Urdu Sanjhe Bol at Emory University, 16 Dec 2007.
