Mani Rao

Mani Rao (born 28 February 1965) is an Indian poet and independent scholar, writing in English.

Biography

Mani Rao has authored thirteen poetry collections including So That You Know (HarperCollins 2025) and three books in translation from Sanskrit including the works of Kalidasa, a translation of the Bhagavad Gita as a poem,[1] and a translation of the tantric hymn Saundarya Lahari, besides an anthropological study of mantra-practice called "Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity and Visionary Experience Today."[2]

Translations of Rao's poems have been published in Kannada, Latin, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, French, German and Kannada. Rao has had poems published in literary journals including Poetry Magazine, Fulcrum, Wasafiri, Meanjin, Washington Square, West Coast Line, Tinfish, and in anthologies including The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond (W.W. Norton, 2008), and The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets. (Bloodaxe Books, 2008) [3] She was a visiting fellow at the Iowa International Writing Program in 2005 and 2009,[4] held the 2006 University of Iowa International Programs writer-in-residence K-12 fellowship, and writing residencies at Omi Ledig House in 2018[5] and International Poetry Studies Institute (IPSI) Canberra in 2019.[6] She was a co-founder of OutLoud, a regular poetry-reading gathering in Hong Kong,[7] and contributed a poetry segment to RTHK Radio 4.[3]

She performed at literary festivals in India including the Jaipur Literature Festival, Bangalore Literature Festival, Hindu Lit for Life and Apeejay Kolkata Literature Festival, and at International literature festivals in Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne, Vancouver, Chicago, Canberra and New York PEN World Voices.[8][3]

Rao worked in advertising and television from 1985 to 2004 in Chennai, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Auckland.[3] In Hong Kong, Rao worked for Star (TV) Group Ltd for 9 years, and was the Senior Vice-President of Marketing and Corporate Communications.[9] She spearheaded the 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' marketing campaign (Who Wants to be a Millionaire).[10] She has an MFA from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a PhD in Religious Studies from Duke University.

Bibliography

Books and Chapbooks

  • So That You Know (HarperCollins, 2025)
  • Kalidasa: Selected Poetry and Drama (HarperCollins, 2025)
  • Slow Down, River. (Translation from Hindi of Anamika's poetry. Red River Books, Hummingbird series 2025).
  • Bhagavad Gita: God's Song (HarperCollins, 2023)
  • Saundarya Lahari (HarperCollins, 2022).
  • Love Me in a Hurry/"Bega Preethsu Nanna" bilingual with Kannada translation by Prathibha Nandakumar (Atta Galatta, Bangalore, 2022).
  • Sing to Me (Recent Work Press, 2019).
  • Living Mantra – Mantra, Deity and Visionary Experience Today (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).
  • New & Selected Poems (Poetrywala, India, 2014).
  • Echolocation (Math Paper Press, Singapore, 2014). (First publication : Hong Kong: Chameleon Press, 2003)
  • Ghostmasters, (Hong Kong: Chameleon Press, 2010)[3]
  • Mani Rao:100 Poems, 1985–2005, (Hong Kong: Chameleon Press, 2006)[3]
  • Salt (Hong Kong: Asia 2000)
  • The Last Beach (Bilingual with Chinese translation. Trans. Huang Chan Lan. Hong Kong: Asia 2000, 1999)
  • Living Shadows (Bilingual with Chinese translation. Trans. Huang Chan Lan. Drawings Mani Rao. Hong Kong: HKADC, 1997)
  • Catapult Season (Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1993)
  • Wing Span (Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 1987)

Essays

References

  1. ↑ Autumn Hill Books Website Archived 26 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Rao, Mani (2019). Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Visionary Experience Today. Contemporary Anthropology of Religion. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-319-96390-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mani Rao's Official Website". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  4. ↑ "Mani RAO | The International Writing Program". iwp.uiowa.edu. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Past Residents". artomi.org. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  6. ↑ "Katarina"] ["Slavich" (16 October 2019). "Reaching for the moon: UC's Poetry on the Move Festival draws big names". www.canberra.edu.au. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  7. ↑ "Stanza and deliver". South China Morning Post. 8 March 2004. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "PEN World Voices > 2006 Festival Mani Rao". Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  9. ↑ indiantelevision.com (12 April 2004). "Three senior executives exit Star Group".
  10. ↑ V. Shankar Nayar Anupama Chopra (30 November 1999). "Kaun Banega Crorepati mesmerises people as STAR TV bets Rs 75 crore on Amitabh Bachchan". India Today. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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