Munawwar Rana

Winner of two dozen awards, Lucknow-based Munawwar Rana is one of India’s most popular and admired poets with a unique tone of voice. He writes both in Hindi and Urdu and is a prominent name in Mushaira circles in India and abroad. His most famous poem was the ground-breaking ‘Maa’ in which he used the genre of Ghazal to extol the virtues of a mother. Some of his other works include Muhajirnama, Ghar Akela Ho Gaya and Peepal Chhaon. He was recently conferred with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his poetry book, Shahdaba. This award adds to a long list of honors already bestowed upon him, some of which include the Ameer Khusro Award, Mir Taqi Mir Award, Ghalib Award, Dr. Zakir Hussain Award, and the Saraswati Samaj Award. Rana’s poetry has also been translated and published in Hindi, Urdu, Gurumukhi and Bangla.