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William Radice was born in 1951 in London, and
has had a double career as a poet and as a
scholar and translator of Bengali. He has
written or edited nearly thirty books. His
volumes of verse include Strivings (1980),
Louring Skies (1985), The Retreat (1994) and
Gifts (2002); his translations include Tagore's
Selected Poems, Selected Short Stories and the
plays, The Post Office and Card-Country; Martin
Kämpchen's The Honey-Seller and Other Stories;
and Puccini's Turandot for the English National
Opera. Among his recent books are Particles,
Jottings, Sparks: The Collected Brief Poems of
Rabindranath Tagore, and Myths and Legends of
India. He has given numerous lectures and poetry
readings all around the world and has received
literary prizes in both India and Bangladesh. He
has also been a regular contributor to BBC Radio
2's early morning "Pause for Thought." He is
married with two daughters, and divides his time
between London and Northumberland.
A Hundred Letters from England
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"I was not surprised when William told me
that the Statesman had asked him to write a
regular column. It was more than yet another
feather in his cap. Rather, this column has
supported and expressed what he sees as his
life's work: the dialogue between Europe and
India, the meeting of two civilised cultures
for mutual refined enjoyment and personal
enrichment … these texts form a strand of
cultural history. No matter how topical and
fleeting this strand may have seemed at the
time, it is more than worthy of preservation
in its totality, worthy of a place on one's
bookshelf."
– Martin Kämpchen |
For four years from June 1998, William Radice
has written a fortnightly "Letter from England"
for the Statesman in India. Covering a wide
range of topics – cinema, theatre, music,
education, politics, current affairs and others
– these quintessentially personal pieces make
this collection what it is: witty, humane and
affecting. |
