Gopi Kottoor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gopikrishnan Kottoor
Born	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Raghav G. Nair
Occupation	Retired Senior Banker
Organization	Indian Writers Association

Gopikrishnan Kottoor is a famous Indian English poet. His real name is Raghav G. Nair. He was born in 1956 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. He is especially known for his poem called "Father, Wake Us In Passing". He also started a poetry magazine named Poetry Chain. Mr. Kottoor lives in Trivandrum, Kerala.

Early Life and Learning

Gopikrishnan Kottoor went to school in Trivandrum. He studied English at the Institute of English in Trivandrum. There, he earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

He won his first poetry prize during college. Soon after, he started publishing his poems in Indian magazines. He also studied poetry in the United States. In 2005, he was a special "Poet-in-Residence" in Germany. This means he was invited to live and write poetry there. Later, in 2019, he joined the advisory board of the Indian Writers Association.

His Amazing Career

As a Poet

Gopi Kottoor has won many awards for his poems. In 1997, he won two prizes from the British Council and Poetry Society of India. One was a special prize for his poem "These are the things we could talk about." He also won second prize for his poem "Digging" that same year.

He continued to win more awards in 1995 and 1998. More recently, he won the First Prize in the All India Poetry Competition in 2017. He also received the Wingword International Poetry Award in 2021.

Kottoor's poem "Father, Wake Us In Passing" (2000) is very well-known. It is a series of poems about his father who was in a coma. This poem helped him get the special residency in Germany. His poems have been published in many international journals. These include Orbis (UK), Ariel (Canada), and Toronto Review (Canada). His work is also in the poetry collection The Dance of the Peacock.

You can read some of his poems and translations online here.

As a Playwright

Gopikrishnan Kottoor has also written plays. One of his plays is The Nectar of the Gods (2015). It tells the story of a palace soldier named Devasahayam. This soldier was executed after he became a Christian in the 18th century.

Another play, The Mask of Death, is a radio play. It is about the last days of the famous Romantic poet John Keats in Rome. He also wrote Fire in the Soul, which is about the Indian rebel poet Subramania Bharati. His other play is called A Woman in Flames.

As a Novelist

Kottoor's first novel is titled A Bridge Over Karma. This book was translated into Malayalam. It was published in parts in a popular Malayalam magazine called Kala Kaumudi.

As an Editor

Gopi Kottoor started and edited Poetry Chain. This was a quarterly magazine for Indian poetry in English. It was published from 1997 to 2007. He also edits an online magazine called Underground Flowers.

Awards and Recognition

• Poetry prizes at the Chandigarh Literary Poetry Festival (2022, 2023).
• The Wingword International Poetry Prize (2020), and an Honourable mention (2022).
• First Prize in the All India Poetry Competition (2017).
• All India Special Poetry Prize (1997).
• All India Poetry Prize (Second Prize) (1997).
• All India Poetry Awards, Commendation prizes (1995 & 1998).
• The Bharathi Prize, Chennai (1995).
• The Kerala University College Prize (1976).
• The Clover Poetry Prize, Commendation (1973).

Honors Received

• Philip McCormick Scholarship, Texas State University, US (2000).
• Recognized as a Distinguished Guest from India by the Government of India (2005-2006).
• Michael Madhusudan Dutt Award.
• D.Litt degree from the World Academy of Arts, California, US.
• Listed among "21 Top Indian Poets."

Sources

• Father, Wake us in Passing: A Book of poems (A Poetry Chain Imprint)Review: Touching Recollections
• Father Wake Us in Passing: Review: Beyond The Confessional
• Father Wake Us in Passing(Guest Poet Readings at University of Augsburg Germany): Comment
• The Coloured Yolk of Love: Poetry Online
• Varnamala – A Web Anthology of Indian English Poetry Anthology
• Bluefifth Review Winter 2003 PoetryOnline
• NthPosition Online Magazine PoetryOnline
• The Poetry of Emotion, Colour and Passion Literary Interview
• Transcreating Poonthanam Review
• Meditations on Life Review
• E-books India [1]

• The Enchanting Verses [2]
• Bigbridge Anthology PartII [3]
• Life and Legends [4]