Dr. Ravi Shankar is an Indian-American poet, editor, and former literature professor. He is the founding editor and executive director of the electronic journal Drunken Boat. He is a Pushcart Prize-winning poet.
Wiki/Biography
Ravi Shankar was born on Monday, January 13, 1975, in Washington, DC, United States (47 years; as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Capricorn. He grew up in Virginia. Shankar moved to India at the age of nine and stayed there for a year and a half before returning to the United States. While in India, he continued his studies at the MAK Convent in Madras. In 1999, his GRE score was 1480. From 1992 to 1996, he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Virginia. In 2000, he received an MFA from Columbia University. In 2021, he received a PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Sydney.
Ravi Shankar childhood photos
appearance
Hair color: gray
Eye color: brown
family
Ravi Shankar was born in Washington, D.C., to a Tamil Brahmin family.
Parents and siblings
His father KH Shankar is an engineer and mother Rajeswari Krishnan is a housewife. Ravi Shankar is the eldest of three children and has two younger sisters.
Ravi Shankar and his mother
Ravi Shankar and his sisters in Florida
wife and children
Ravi Shankar married Parker but later separated due to Parker’s incident with the NYPD. They have two daughters, Samara Shankar and Thalia Shankar. There is not much information about his ex-wife.
Ravi Shankar and his daughter Samara Shankar
Ravi Shankar and his daughter Thalia Shankar
interpersonal relationships
Ravi Shankar has been in a relationship with writer and teacher Julie since 2018.
Ravi Shankar and Julie
religion
Ravi Shankar is a Hindu.
Ravi Shankar with his family at Sri Lakshmi Temple in Ashland
Profession
writing
Ravi Shankar is the author of more than 15 poetry books and chapbooks, including The Many Uses of Mint: New and Selected Poems: 1998-2018, What Else Could Be, and A Field Guide to Southern China ” (2019). His literary work has appeared in The Paris Review, Fulcrum, McSweeney’s, AWP Writer’s Chronicle, and Scribner’s Best American Erotic Poetry, among others. His poetry has been translated into more than 12 languages, including French, German, Spanish, Hindi, Italian, and Bengali, and has been featured in the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets, and the International Poetry Society. He founded Drunken Boat, one of the oldest electronic art journals in the world. In 2021, he published his memoir “Correction,” in which he wrote about his parents’ immigration to the United States from southern India and his own experiences facing racism and prison in the United States. American historian and scholar H. Bruce Franklin described it as a courageous journey of discovery, saying:
“The Correctional Institution” is a courageous journey of discovery, a true odyssey, navigating treacherous cultural and psychological waters before barely returning home. Thanks to Shankar’s brilliant writing and admirable honesty, we relive his harrowing but ultimately inspiring personal saga. His insights into our justice system alone are worth the price of admission. “
Ravi Shankar holding the book “Correction”
He co-edited with Nobel laureates Nadine Gordim, Tina Chang and Natalie Handal, WW Norton’s Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond, which was Bell Prize winner Nadine Godim called it “a beautiful achievement of world literature.” He is the president of the Asia Pacific Writers and Translators (APWT). In 2016, Shankar translated the works of Tamil poet/Saint Andal together with Priya Sarukkai Chabria. Shankar’s numerous awards for poetry include the Gulf Coast Poetry Prize and the Columbia University Bennett Poetry Prize.
Ravi Shankar reads his poetry at Virginia Center for Creative Arts in 2023
teaching
Shankar has taught at various institutions including Columbia University, Fairfield University and the University of Sydney. He has received fellowships from Yaddo Corporation, McDowell Colony, Gentle Foundation, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Blue Mountain Center. In 2011, he became president of the Connecticut Young Writers Trust. In addition to the United States and Australia, he has taught at many institutions around the world, including the Wesleyan University Summer Writing Conference, City University of Hong Kong, Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus, and Sun Yat-sen University in China. In 2016, he was appointed to the permanent faculty of the New York Writers Workshop.
Ravi Shankar attended APWT 2022
dispute
Poet, professor promoted while in prison
In 2014, Ravi Shankar was a Poet-in-Residence and Associate Professor of English at Central Connecticut State University in Connecticut. He was promoted to full professor by the Connecticut Board of Higher Education. But at the time of his promotion, Shankar was serving two weeks of a 90-day pre-trial prison sentence. Charges against Shankar include violating probation for past credit card fraud and driving under the influence. This caused an uproar in the media and netizens, questioning the integrity of the board of directors. Every newspaper and news channel has the same headline “Poet professor promoted in prison”. CCSU President Dr. Jack Miller said he didn’t know Shankar was in jail until after the professor was promoted. He said in an interview: “
This is a very complicated situation, but the simple answer is that I had a duty to notify the board and I didn’t. At the time of the committee’s action, I was not aware that Professor Shankar had been imprisoned. I have asked my staff to conduct a full investigation of all legal proceedings and the various proceedings involved. “
Shankar sued Central Connecticut’s public university system and won a settlement of $60,409, which university authorities paid Shankar in exchange for his resignation. Ravi Shankar resigned from CCSU and moved to Australia to pursue his PhD. Shankar said in an interview,
I take my responsibility as an educator and role model seriously, and am deeply disturbed that a concatenation of bad luck and poor judgment has wreaked such havoc on everything I hold dear. ”
Awards
- In 2009, he received a scholarship from the Connecticut Cultural and Tourism Commission
- In 2014, he received the Glenna Luschei Award from Prairie Schooner.
- In 2017, he received the Rhode Island Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship.
- In 2017, he won the Hyderabad Literary Festival’s Muse India Translation Award for his translation with Priya Sarukkai Chabri.
Facts/Trivia
- Ravi is a dog lover and has two dogs, Annie and Rishi, and often uploads their pictures on his social media accounts.
Ravi Shankar and his dog Rishi at home in Rhode Island
Ravi Shankar and his dog Annie
- Ravi Shankar loves traveling and has been to Singapore, Italy, India, Myanmar and many other countries.
Ravi Shankar in Slovenia
- In March 2023, he gave a TED Talk at TEDx TUFTS.
Ravi Shankar, Tufts University
- In January 2018, he appeared as a guest speaker at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
- Shankar said that he loves Indian food and Pav Bhaaji is his favorite Indian street food.
Ravi Shankar eats Indian food in Madras
- Ravi Shankar enjoys adventure sports and has done many sports including zip lining and skydiving.
Ravi Shankar Skydiving New Zealand 2018
- After the publication of his memoirs, Ravi Shankar described himself as ABCD in an interview, saying,
In layman’s terms, I’m ABCD, an American-born confused desi whose displacement is the source of imitation. “
- In 2008, Ravi Shankar faced racism when he was targeted by a New York City police officer who arrested Shankar on a warrant for “a 10-person, 140-pound white male.” He was driving when he was pulled over by an NYPD officer. Shankar passed all the sobriety tests, but after some time, he realized there were more police cars there than when he was first pulled over. He was eventually released, but not before spending more than 72 hours in jail. Shankar shared his story with NPR and won a $15,000 settlement against the city and NYPD.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education