1. Suman Pokhrel is a Nepali poet, lyricist, playwright, translator and artist.
30 Facts About Suman Pokhrel
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Suman Pokhrel is recipient of several other national and international literary awards including Shaluk International Literature Award and Asia's Inspiring Poet Award.
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Suman Pokhrel attended Bal Mandir, a government owned Kindergarten in Biratnagar, until he was five.
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Suman Pokhrel got moved to his ancestral village of Kachide in Dhankuta at the age of seven and raised there by his paternal grandmother.
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Suman Pokhrel's paternal grandfather Bidhyanath Pokhrel was a poet and a politician.
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Suman Pokhrel was introduced to literature early through the influence of his grandfather's library, filled with Nepali, Hindi and classic Sanskrit literature.
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Suman Pokhrel was mentored by his father, who was an engineer by profession and a bibliophile with a keen interest in art and literature.
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Suman Pokhrel earned his BSc, MBA and BL from the Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
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Suman Pokhrel joined the Nepali civil service in Nepal Government as a Section Officer in February 1995.
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Suman Pokhrel left the job and joined Plan International in December 1998 as a development activist and went to the remote hilly region of the country.
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Suman Pokhrel has read his poems for both national and international audiences.
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Suman Pokhrel has read his poems in SAARC Festivals of Literature in 2009,2010,2011,2013 and 2015.
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Suman Pokhrel read his poem in SAARC Charter Day Celebrations on 8 December 2013, in New Delhi, India as an especial invitee.
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Suman Pokhrel recited his poems in Nepali during a monthly two-poet poetry recital program in Kathmandu in March 2015.
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Suman Pokhrel read his poems at the All India Poets' Meet in Orissa, India, in February 2016 as a specially invited poet from a foreign country.
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Suman Pokhrel further participated and read his poems at the First Forum of Asian Countries' Writers in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, in September 2019, Vishwa Rang in Bhopal, India, in November 2019, Kokrajhar Literature Festival in Assam, India, in January 2023, and Shaluk International Literature Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in March 2023, as well as the BIMSTEC Literature Festival in March 2023 in New Delhi, India, among several other national and international literature events.
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Suman Pokhrel published his debut book, Shoonya Mutuko Dhadkanbhitra, a collection of poetry in Nepali language in 1999.
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In 2016, Suman Pokhrel wrote Yajnaseni, a play based on the Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata, which premiered in Irving, Dallas, TX, US.
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Suman Pokhrel's poetry, translated into several languages by various translators, including himself for some languages, is featured in notable international anthologies, literary journals, and magazines.
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Suman Pokhrel has translated William Shakespeare's play The Tempest into Nepali as Aandhibehari which was published by Nepal Academy in 2018.
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Suman Pokhrel has translated works of many of Nepali-language poets and writers, including Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Gopal Prasad Rimal, Bhupi Sherchan, Ishwar Ballav, Abhi Subedi, Krishna Bhooshan Bal, Sanu Sharma, and Geeta Tripathee among other into English, Hindi and Urdu languages.
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Additionally, from 2019 to 2022, Suman Pokhrel directed the series Kavyaarohan in collaboration with Aarohan Gurukul, Biratnagar, which featured emininent Nepali poets like Bairagi Kainla and Tulasi Diwasa among other.
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Suman Pokhrel's poetry has garnered attention and admiration from people from all walks of life, with many citing and sharing his work.
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Suman Pokhrel's poetry has been part of university literary curricula across countries.
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Suman Pokhrel's poems are included in syllabi of Tribhuvan University and Purbanchal University in Nepal and in University of Kerala, GD Goenka University, and Cauvery College For Women in India.
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Suman Pokhrel's verses have left impact that admirers have tattooed them onto their bodies.
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In 2023, Suman Pokhrel was honored with the 'Asia's Inspiring Poet Award' by the Asia Award and the 'Shaluk International Literature Award' by the Shaluk Literary Magazine in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
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Suman Pokhrel belongs to an academic and politically active wealthy family within the Nepali context.
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Suman Pokhrel's maternal grandfather Ganesh Prasad Rijal was a member of the first parliament of Nepal, who was exiled to India after King Mahendra's coup in 1960.
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Suman Pokhrel's father, Mukunda Prasad Pokhrel, was an engineer with international degrees and a government employee, while his mother, Bhakta Devi Pokhrel, was a BHU graduate and a Nepal government employee.