https://manankapoor.com Manan Kapoor Tue, 17 Jun 2025 21:00:59 +0000 https://manankapoor.com en http://manankapoor.com/Talks Tue, 17 Jun 2025 21:00:59 +0000 Manan Kapoor 457146 MANAN KAPOOR window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-YZMT72JRN3'); ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; CONTACT Recent and Upcoming Talks___________________________ “Form as Dialogue, Dialogue as Form: The Ghazal Across the Longue Durée” at Forms in Dialogue Conference, The University of Konstanz, Konstanz, June 2026. “The Ghazal and Global Lyric Thinking”American Comparative Literature Association 2026, Montreal, February 2026. “The Pantoum: Its Beginnings and Global Routing” organized by Harvard English’s Long 20th Century Colloquium, September 2025. “Studio 107, Episode 18, Manan Kapoor” James Merrill House Program, Stonington, CT, May, 2025 “Scattering the Self: James Merrill’s Self-Elegies” organized by the James Merrill House, Stonington Public Library, May 18, 2025. The Book of Clouds: In conversation with Oludamini Ogunnaike &amp; Nicholas Boylston The Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard University, April 2024.““Creolizing the Modernist Long Poem: Derek Walcott’s The Schooner ‘Flight’” Poggiolli Colloquium, Department of Comparative Literature, Harvard Univeristy, Oct 2024 “Creolizing the Modernist Long Poem: Derek Walcott’s The Schooner ‘Flight’” at The Modernist Long Poem and Its Discontents&nbsp;organized by École Normale Supérieure, NYU Paris, Paris, Sep 2024 “Unweaving the Echoes: Elizabeth Bishop and Octavio Paz”American Literature Association 2024, Chicago, May 2024 A Map of Longings, in conversation with Vidyan Ravinthiran and Christopher Spaide Grolier Poetry Bookshop, March 2023. “The Transnational Poetics of Agha Shahid Ali” at&nbsp;Levitate, organized by PEN International, New Delhi, December 2021.“Agha Shahid Ali with Manan Kapoor” Brown History Podcast, July 2021. “Ghazal: In Conversation with Manan Kapoor” High Theory Podcast, July 2021. “JLF First Edition: A Map of Longings”, in conversation with Ranjit Hoskote, Jaipur Literature Festival, May 2021. “Agha Shahid Ali’s Poetics of Loss and Longing”, in conversation with Sarah Haque, Delhi Book Fair, August 2021.“Agha Shahid Ali’s Poetic Legacy” The Creative Hour Podcast, August 2021. In Conversation with Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee, Kitaab Khana Books, 28 June 2021. “Memories of Paradise: Loss and Longing in Kashmiri Writing” Lekhana: A Literary Weekend,&nbsp;Champaka Bookstore, Bengaluru, November 2019. “The Ghazal in Modern American Poetry”, Indian Institute of Human Settlements, Bangalore, November 2019.“Writing Conflict: Kashmir in Fiction”, 25-Under-25 Lit Fest, Bangalore, Sep 2016.&nbsp; MANAN KAPOOR ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; ... http://manankapoor.com/Teaching Tue, 17 Jun 2025 19:00:57 +0000 Manan Kapoor 457145 MANAN KAPOOR window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-YZMT72JRN3'); ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; CONTACT For my CV, click here Undergraduate Courses / Instructor of Record ________________________ Lyric Currents: American Poetry Through Other ContinentsJunior Tutorial, Harvard University, Spring 2027<img width="1310" height="546" width_o="1310" height_o="546" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/9ba473476e6d2cffbb15f3f599a9a9febcc1ee68ea1fb688f27cfa28817fe800/Screenshot-2026-03-29-at-3.36.36PM.png" data-mid="1435493" border="0" data-scale="100"/> Lyric Currents explores how global literary traditions have shaped modern and contemporary American poetry. The title draws on Wai Chee Dimock’s phrase “through other continents” to frame two central questions: How have poetic forms and traditions been routed to American poetics, and how have these poetic forms, voices, and modes taken root in new cultural, linguistic, and historical contexts? Moving chronologically from early twentieth-century modernist poetry to collections published in the past year, we will trace how American poets have engaged—and been transformed by—other literary traditions. Each week we’ll read (at least) two poems together in class, and our readings will include T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Claude McKay, Elizabeth Bishop, Adrienne Rich, James Merrill, Derek Walcott, and Agha Shahid Ali, among others. Across these poems, we will consider how lyric poetry absorbs and reconfigures global influences, how translation and hybridity shape poetic voice, and how formal and aesthetic choices register experiences of encounter, travel, cultural contact, displacement, and belonging. Along with poetry, we will read critical and theoretical works that help us think about travel, influence, displacement, and circulation within broader frameworks such as postcolonialism, globalization, and cosmopolitanism. Together, these readings will help us understand how American poetry participates in wider literary networks and how the lyric becomes a site where global histories and movements are registered, revised, and reimagined. Travel, Travelers, Travelogues: A Global PerspectiveJunior Tutorial, Harvard University, Spring 2026 <img width="1396" height="463" width_o="1396" height_o="463" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/e319c96f7803b884340c4c3f9ede2d1f7cf572cdb655cfd2b3bfe0905299c65d/Screenshot-2026-03-29-at-3.40.10PM.png" data-mid="1435494" border="0" /> From epic voyages across oceans to quiet poems about self-discovery, travel has long been a powerful force in global literature. But how have travelers and travel writing shaped culture and the stories we tell? This course explores the dynamic relationship between travel writing, race, nationalism, postcolonialism, and globalization by examining travel writing across periods. In this course, we will read the writings of John Mandeville, Marco Polo, François Bernier, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Edith Wharton, Chris Marker, Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak, W.G. Sebald, V.S. Naipaul, Claude-Lévi Strauss, Anthony Bourdain, and others. Through this diverse range of texts that includes travelogues, novels, journals, memoirs, films, and documentaries, we will examine how people have written about the world—past, present, and imagined. Some of the critical debates that will inform our discussions include world/global literary studies, cosmopolitanism, globalization, and postcolonial theory. Graduate Student Instructor / Teaching Assistant____________________________ Reading for Fiction Writers&nbsp;(HUM 9) Course Instructors: Prof. Neel Mukherjee and Laura van den Berg, Harvard University, Fall 2025 Milton’s Paradise Lost (English 131P)Course Instructor: Prof. Gordon Teskey, Harvard University, Spring 2025.&nbsp; Literature Today (English 131) Course Instructor: Prof. Stephanie Burt, Harvard University, Fall 2024.&nbsp; Workshops and Guest Lectures________________________ Poetic Form and Poetic Genre: A WorkshopWinthrop House, Harvard University, March 2026 A Harmonious Order: Form and Feeling Poetry Workshop, James Merrill House, May 2025 Lecture on Edward P. &nbsp;Jones’&nbsp; All Aunt Hagar’s Children and Lost in the City&nbsp; Human 10: Reading for Fiction Writers, Harvard University, November 2025 Lecture on Agha Shahid Ali’s&nbsp;Rooms are Never Finished,&nbsp; English 10: Literature Today, Harvard University, November 2024 Lecture on Agha Shahid Ali’s&nbsp;A Nostalgist’s Map of America,&nbsp; English 181A: Asian American Literature, Harvard Univesity, October 2022.Writing Fellow/InstructorAlekhya Writer’s Retreat, April 2019 MANAN KAPOOR ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; ... http://manankapoor.com/Contact Thu, 15 Jun 2023 17:03:01 +0000 Manan Kapoor 444460 MANAN KAPOOR window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-YZMT72JRN3'); ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; CONTACT The moon did not become the sunIt just fell on the desertin great sheets, reamsof silver handmade by you.The night is your cottage industry now,the day is your brisk emporiumThe world is full of paper. Write to me. — “Stationery” by Agha Shahid Alimanankapoor [at] g [dot] harvard [dot] edu Represented by: Kanishka Gupta,&nbsp;Writers’ Side Literary Agency MANAN KAPOOR ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; ... http://manankapoor.com/Writing Thu, 15 Jun 2023 17:02:49 +0000 Manan Kapoor 444459 MANAN KAPOOR window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-YZMT72JRN3'); ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; CONTACT Select Publications___________________ Caught in the Middle: On Edward Said’s Songs of an Eastern Humanist The LA Review of Books, 2024 Only by Moving Constantly: A.K. Ramanujan’s “Elements of Composition” in Other Sides, edited by Dhruvtara Sharma Churai, 2024 My Dearest James: Agha Shahid Ali and James Merrill Yalebooks,&nbsp;2023 The Orange Tree by Dong Li Harvard Review, 202336 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam Le Harvard Review, 2024 Creating a True Anthology of Sri Lankan Poetry Harvard Review, 2023 The Town Slowly Empties: On Life and Culture During Lockdown&nbsp;by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee Scroll.in, 2021 The Country Without a Post Officein Other Times, edited by Arshia Sattar, 2020 On the Same Page: Agha Shahid Ali’s Translations of Revolutionary Poets The Caravan Magaine, 2019The Country Without a Post Office Boston Review, 2019 “The Refrain and Beyond: The Ghazal in America”The Ghazal Page: The International Journal of English Language Ghazals (*discontinued), Issue 64, December 2016 ‘We Must Risk Delight’: Poetry May not Cure Us But it can Heal Us Scroll.in, 2020 Mirza Ghalib in America Scroll.in, 2019 A Sloppy Surgery: How Cyril Radcliffe Carved the Indian Subcontinent Sahapedia, 2019 An Assemblage of Images: How Delhi and Its Architecture Influenced the Poetry of Octavio Paz Scroll.in, 2019 The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Scroll.in, 2019Verses for a Home Foregone: Four Poets on Exile Scroll.in, 2019 W.S. Merwin: A Poet Who Saw Rhyme &amp; Reason in Nature TheWire.in, 2019 How Begum Akhtar Influenced the Life and Poetry of Agha Shahid Ali Dawn, 2019The Literary Life of Harold BloomThe Wire, 2019 In Search of Irrationality: Allen Ginsberg in India Scroll.in, 2019 V.S. Naipaul Courted Controversy at Every Step, But His Voice Was Never IgnoredThe Wire.in, 2018Bei Dao: A Tranquil Bard of Protest Scroll.in, 2018 MANAN KAPOOR ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; ... http://manankapoor.com/Books Thu, 15 Jun 2023 16:56:48 +0000 Manan Kapoor 444458 MANAN KAPOOR window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-YZMT72JRN3'); ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; CONTACT A Map of Longings: The Life and Works of Agha Shahid Ali Yale University Press, 2023; Penguin Random House India, 2021—————————————————————————— Agha Shahid Ali (1949–2001) was one of the most celebrated American poets of the latter twentieth century, and his works have touched millions of lives around the world. Traversing multiple geographies, cultures, religions, and traditions, he mapped the varied landscapes of the Indian subcontinent and the United States. In this biography, Manan Kapoor narrates Shahid’s evolution, following in the footsteps of the “Beloved Witness” from Kashmir and New Delhi to the American Southwest and Massachusetts. He charts Shahid’s friendships with literary figures such as James Merrill, Salman Rushdie, and Edward Said; explores how Shahid responded to events around the world, including the partition of the Indian subcontinent and the AIDS epidemic in America; and draws on unpublished materials and in-depth interviews to reveal the experiences and relationships that informed his poetry. Hailed upon its release in India as “lush” and “poetic,” A Map of Longings is the story of an extraordinary poet, the works he left behind, and the legacy of his singular poetic vision. More information here. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<img width="596" height="931" width_o="596" height_o="931" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/b8271b74ae2cdc76b697f70f81722d0c2f30c8260201dc7ddc2f8a526f1e4da7/9780300264227.jpg" data-mid="1294905" border="0" data-scale="86"/> Praise for A Map of Longings—————— “Vividly and briskly, Manan Kapoor tells Agha Shahid Ali’s fascinating life story. What emerges is a world-class poet who crafts dazzling poems, brilliantly melding his cultural inspirations from Kashmir, India, America, and elsewhere.” — Jahan Ramazani“A much-needed book about one of the greatest poets—and human beings—of his time.” — Kamila Shamsie“Manan Kapoor’s biography sheds essential light on the richly complex international web of artistic affiliations essential to Agha Shahid Ali’s poetic development and his impassioned belief in a true ‘community of differences’ among diverse cultures. Kapoor trenchantly illuminates Shahid’s path toward that expansive body of humane work that stands as his enduring legacy.” — Michael Palmer“In A Map of Longings, Manan Kapoor draws a scintillating portrait of one of the finest poets of the late twentieth century whose influence has grown immeasurably in the two decades that have followed his far-too-early death in 2001. Kapoor’s absorbing, immersive account presents Agha Shahid Ali as the superb literary artist he was, single-mindedly exploring the traditions of poetry and experimenting with its resources across several languages.” — Ranjit Hoskote“Manan Kapoor’s immersive study returns the poet to his roots, which are inescapably Indian—there’s no other word for the syncretic mastery of the Hindi, Urdu, and English traditions that shaped his work.” — Jeet Thayil The Lamentations of a Sombre SkyLeadstart Press, 2016 ————————————————————————————————— Finalist for the Yuva Sahitya Akademi Award 2017 (Out of Print) More info here MANAN KAPOOR ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; ... http://manankapoor.com/About Mon, 26 Oct 2015 19:18:03 +0000 Manan Kapoor 444453 MANAN KAPOOR window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-YZMT72JRN3'); ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; CONTACT Manan Kapoor was born in Shimla and lives in Cambridge, MA. He is a writer, poetry critic, and translator. A Map of Longings: The Life and Works of Agha Shahid Ali (Yale University Press / Penguin Random House India) is his latest work. His first novel, The Lamentations of a Sombre Sky, was a finalist for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2017. He is an editor at Harvard Review. His writing and criticism have appeared in Boston Review, The LA Review of Books, Harvard Review, The Caravan Magazine, The Hindu, and Scroll among others. He is a Ledbury Poetry Critic and has received fellowships from&nbsp; James Merrill House, Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Sangam House Writers’ Residency, and Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts &amp; Sciences &amp; Harvard English. <img width="4323" height="3169" width_o="4323" height_o="3169" src_o="https://cortex.persona.co/t/original/i/0334bf0afeee788f956bbaa24b6128f14afd31d6891c608e909e208d0d0b672e/Manan-Kapoor_JMH.jpg" data-mid="1411291" border="0" /> Kapoor is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at Harvard University. His research focuses on poetry and poetics. His doctoral project offers a formal and historical appraisal of poetic forms in modern and contemporary Anglophone literature. Drawing on a vast constellation of texts, it examines how poets across diverse cultural contexts, and historical periods interpret, revise, and subvert received forms. The study argues for a new critical vocabulary to better account for how verse forms transform across literary traditions, cultures, languages, and geographies. Engaging with distinct though interconnected literary traditions such as Urdu, Persian, English, French, Malay, Arabic and Sanskrit poetics, the project foregrounds the tension between formal fixity and poetic innovation, charting these forms’ historical routing across languages and their significance in shaping global lyric sensibilities.Cover Image: “Brazilian Landscape” by Elizabeth Bishop MANAN KAPOOR ABOUT&nbsp; &nbsp; WRITING&nbsp; &nbsp; BOOKS&nbsp; &nbsp; TEACHING&nbsp; &nbsp; TALKS&nbsp; &nbsp; ...