Rajat Chaudhuri writes in English and Bengali and has published full length works in both languages. He also translates from Bengali to English. More information about his translated books and standalone pieces below. In his translations, Rajat focuses on little known, forgotten and below the radar prose and poetry.

THE GREAT BENGALI POETRY UNDERGROUND (Translated from the Bengali with an introduction by Rajat Chaudhuri) 

In the pages of Bengali little magazines of India and Bangladesh and the obscure recesses of an ever-vibrant literary culture, spring other voices, other words – another art of seeing. Hidden from the glare of mainstream writing and often ignored in the portals of high culture, secret wizards of verse are chiselling away at experience, conjuring up the poetry of a stricken time.

A poetry which genuflects before no one while delivering its irreverent message in whispers or cat calls. The subterranean chambers of Bengali underground poetry echo with angst and experiment, glow in the blurry heat of passion or slip into a meditative silence as it plumbs the depths of the heart. This collection trawls the darkest corners of the Bengali literary universe offering to English language readers, the first glimpse of an uncharted ocean – its winds, storms and unstoppable tides.

Poets: Agni Roy, Novera Hossain, Mitul Dutta, Tanmay Mridha, Atanu Chakrabortty, Gouranga Mondal, Shapla Shawparjita, Pratyush Bandopadhyay, Aysa Jhorna, Arpan Chakraborty

CALCUTTA NIGHTS

(Translated from the Bengali by Rajat Chaudhuri) is the real-life story and memoir of the enigmatic `Meghnad Gupta', pen name of famed Bengali fiction writer Hemendrakumar Roy. Translated into English by Rajat Chaudhuri almost a century after the first publication of Raater Kolkata in 1923, Roy reveals to contemporary readers the darkest secrets of an earlier Calcutta. 

The first two decades of the last century, the backdrop for this book, were politically turbulent times. Those days, Calcutta, the erstwhile capital of British India, was teeming with people from different parts of the country besides Europeans and other foreigners. It was a city of sin, pleasure and suffering. Indians who arrived and settled here mingled with locals, some of them picking up dress, manners and the wanton lifestyles of the Bengali `babu’ while others kept their identities intact. All this created a unique cosmopolitan setting, coloured with shades of debauchery, darkness and crime that this first-hand account brilliantly recounts.

Calcutta Nights is the Hootum Pyanchar Naksha (published in 1862 and penned by Kaliprasanna Sinha) of the early twentieth century a book that will help anyone understand the contrasts and colours of a unique Indian metropolis. 

ISBN: 978-9389136456 
Published by: Paper Missile (Niyogi Books)
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Reviews, Excerpts, Events, Listings of Calcutta Nights:

Readings with Oxford Bookstores

Review in India Today

Review by Krishnan Unni P. in Indian Literature journal published by Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters)

Review in Muse India

Books of the Week feature in Firstpost

Review in New Indian Express 

Review in Outlook magazine

Review in The Telegraph 

Review in Asian Review of Books (Hong Kong)

Review in South China Morning Post

Review in Scroll

Review in Dainik Tribube (in Hindi)

Review in Tehelka (image below)

Recommended for the Week by The News Now

Review in IANS (India Abroad News Service) `Books This Weekend' and carried by Outlook Live and Dainik Bhaskar Online. (Image at the end of this page)

Notice in Millennium Post

Excerpt published in Scroll.in 

Review and report in Business Standard

Interview in Muse India

Excerpt published in The Pioneer 

Report in Outlook magazine

Report in PTI (Press Trust of India)

Mention in New Indian Express

Notice in Punjab Kesari (Hindi newspaper, image below)

`Calcutta Nights' by Hemendra Kumar Roy, translated by Rajat Chaudhuri, review in South China Morning Post (screenshot)

Excerpt in The Pioneer

Review in IANS (from Bhaskar Live)

Review in Asian Review of Books (link above)

`Calcutta Nights' by Hemendra Kumar Roy, translated by Rajat Chaudhuri, review in South China Morning Post (screenshot)

`Calcutta Nights' by Hemendra Kumar Roy, translated by Rajat Chaudhuri, Notice in Punjab Kesari (Hindi newspaper)

`Calcutta Nights' by Hemendra Kumar Roy, translated by Rajat Chaudhuri, Review-notice in Tehelka

For more information about Translated Books and published translations please visit HOME and WRITING (click Translations) pages of this website.