The Life of Bhupi Sherchan: Poetry and Politics in Post-Rana Nepal

This book chronicles the life of the well-known Nepali poet, Bhupi Sherchan (1935—1989). Belonging to a minority ethnic group, the Thakali, Bhupis life resembles a passage
through a series of archetypes: the sharp-dressed son of a wealthy trader, the firebrand revolutionary student, the litterateur moving from one literary function to the next, the author of grandly ironic poetry, the angst-ridden sleepless soul, the heavy-drinking socialite and raconteur, the tragic invalid …

Closely interwoven with the social, cultural, and political milieu of the region, Bhupi Sherchans poems are perhaps the most popular in Nepali literature. Many Nepali readers identify with their themes–recognizing their country as a land of hearsay and rumour (‘This is a Land of Hearsay and Rumour), feeling that sometimes ‘life stinks like the sweat in an armpit (‘Midday and the Cold Sleep), and suffering from being ‘bitten by rupees all day, bitten by fleas all night (‘My Courtyard).
Along with first-hand accounts from Bhupi Sherchans family and close friends, this volume includes around 60 poems translated by Michael Hutt and over 40 rare photographs of the poet and his family, friends, and associates. The book looks at the poet, his work and his milieu, and provides rare insights into the close interaction between literature and politics in post-Rana and Panchayat-period Nepal.