R.K. Singh

Ram Krishna Singh is an Indian poet and academic, whose main fields of interest consist of Indian English writing, especially poetry, and English for Specific Purposes, especially for science and technology.

Life
Singh was born on 31 December 1950 in Varanasi, India. After earning a B.A in 1970, he gained his M.A. in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University in 1972, and his Ph.D. from Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, in 1981. He also obtained a Diploma in Russian in 1972.

Dr. Singh started his career in journalism, as a Compilation Officer in the District Gazetteers Department, Lucknow, 1973, and a Journalist with the Press Trust of India, New Delhi, 1973-74. Changing to teaching he became a Lecturer at the Royal Bhutan Polytechnic, Deothang, Bhutan, 1974-76. Joining the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad as a Lecturer from 1976-83, he then rose to Assistant Professor in 1983. He has been Professor of English and Head of the Institute’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences since 1993.

A reviewer, critic and contemporary poet who writes in Indian English, Dr. Singh is the author of more than 160 research articles and 170 book reviews. His works have been anthologized in about 150 publications, while his editorial activities extend to include guest-editing of Language Forum, 1986, 1995, and Creative Forum, 1991, 1997, 1998, besides being co-editor of the latter publication from 1987-90, General Editor of Creative Forum New Poets Series, and service on the editorial boards of Canopy, Indian Book Chronicle, Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Reflections, Titiksha, International Journal of Translation, Poetcrit, Impressions of Eternity (ie), and SlugFest. He has evaluated about 40 PhD theses from various universities. He has also edited the ISM Newsletter for about five years.

His poems have been translated into French, Spanish, Romanian, Chinese, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Japanese, Bulgarian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Esperanto, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, and Bangla. About 60 full-length articles on his poetry have been published from 1988-2009. New Indian English Poetry: An Alternative Voice: R.K.Singh (ed: I.K. Sharma, 2004) and R.K.Singh’s Mind and Art: A Symphony of Expressions (ed: Rajni Singh, 2011) are two comprehensive critical presentations of his creativity since the 1970s. His works have been explored in several M Phil and Ph D theses of various universities.

Recognition
In recognition of his achievements Professor Singh has received several awards and honours, among them:
 * an Honorary Litt.D. from the World Academy of Arts and Culture, Taiwan, 1984;
 * Fellowship of the International Poets Academy, Madras, 1987;
 * Fellowship of the International Writers and Artists Association, U.S.A.;
 * the Michael Madhusudan Award, Calcutta, 1994
 * Poet of the Year Award, 1995 from the Canadian Alumni of the World University, Ontario
 * Ritsumeikan University Peace Museum Award, Kyoto, 1999
 * Certificate of Honour and Prize in Kumamoto International Kusamamoto Haiku Competition, Japan, 2000
 * Life time Achievement Award, Chennai, 2009.

Professor Singh’s biography appears in over 35 publications in the United Kingdom, United States, India and elsewhere.

Publications
He has published 36 books, including : Savitri : A Spiritual Epic (Criticism, 1984); My Silence (poems, 1985); Sound and Silence (edited articles on Krishna Srinivas, 1986); Indian English Writing : 1981-1985 : Experiments with Expression (ed., 1987, rept. 1991); Using English in Science and Technology (textbook, 1988, rev. and rept, 2000); Recent Indian English Poets : Expressions and Beliefs (ed. 1992); Two Poets: R.K. Singh (I DO NOT QUESTION) Ujjal Singh Bahri (THE GRAMMAR OF MY LIFE) (poems, 1994); General English Practice (textbook, 1995 Anger in Action : Explorations of Anger in Indian Writing in English (ed.,1997); My Silence and Other Selected Poems : 1974-1994 (poems, 1996); Above the Earth’s Green (poems, 1997); Psychic Knot : Search for Tolerance in Indian English Fiction (ed., 1998); New Zealand Literature : Some Recent Trends (ed.,1998); Every Stone Drop Pebble (haiku, 1999); Multiple-Choice General English for UPSC Competitive Exams (textbook, 2001); Cover to Cover (poems, 2002). Pacem in Terris ( haiku, English and Italian, 2003), Communication : Grammar and Composition ( textbook, 2003), Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri : Essays on Love, Life and Death ( Critical articles, 2005), Teaching English for Specific Purposes : An Evolving Experience ( Research articles and review essays, 2005), Voices of the Present: Critical Essays on Some Indian English Poets (2006), The River Returns (tanka and haiku collection, 2006), English as a Second Language: Experience into Essays (ed. research articles, 2007), English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected (ed. research articles, 2008), Sexless Solitude and Other Poems (2009), Mechanics of Research Writing (2010), and Sense and Silence: Collected Poems (2010).

Reviews by R.K. Singh

 * Hsu Chicheng's Blossoming Blossoms of Poetry
 * A Dictionary of Indian English Litterateurs