Raj Rao

Nissim Ezekiel Raj Rao

Nissim Ezekiel is regarded as the father of modern Indian English poetry, and the founder of the Bombay school of poetry. In this meticulously researched biography, R. Raj Rao traces the development of Ezekiel's poetry and life against the background of the intellectual, cultural and political climate in India-from the 1930s to the end of the 20th century. The last section of the book deals with Ezekiel's increasing loneliness and his inability to recognize old friends, and finally being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1998. Drawing on previously unpublished letters, poems and essays, as well as discussions with the poet and interviews with friends and peers, Rao examines the desires and realities of Ezekiel's life. Rao also provides detailed analyses of Ezekiel's poems. Scholarly, exhaustive and provocative, this is the definitive biography of one of India's foremost poets.