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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
[[File:The classical Meitei epic of the "Numit Kappa", written in ancient Meitei language (in archaic Meitei script).jpg|thumb|400px|The [[Numit Kappa]], a [[:en:wikibooks:Classical Meitei|Classical Meitei]] epic text written during the 1st century, based on ancient [[Meitei mythology]] and religion ([[Sanamahism]]).]]
'''Literature from North East India''' is literature in the languages of [[Northeast India|North East India]] and the body of work by English-language writers from the region. Though the misnomer for the region was a colonial construct, it continues to be used by the Indian state to denote the region now comprising eight states.

==Debates surrounding the term North East==
North East India is an under-represented region in many ways.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zama |first=Margaret Ch |title=Emerging Literatures from Northeast India |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |year=2013 |isbn=9788132117469 |language=English}}{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The troubled political climate, the beautiful landscape and the confluence of various ethnic groups perhaps have given rise to a body of writing that is completely different from [[Indian English literature]].<ref name="confluenceMB2008">{{cite web |last=Barua |first=Manjeet |date=13 December 2008 |title='Political' Literature of India's North East Frontier |url=http://www.confluence.org.uk/2008/12/13/political-literature-of-india-north-east-frontier/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406084636/https://confluence.org.uk/2008/12/13/political-literature-of-india-north-east-frontier/ |archive-date=6 April 2009}}</ref> [[North-East India]] was a colonial construct and continues to be one by virtue of having a historically difficult relationship with the [[India]]n nation state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Islam |first=K M Baharul |title=Literatures from Northeast India: Beyond the Centre-Periphery Debate |publisher=Taylor & Francis Limited |year=2022 |isbn=9781032156798 |location= |oclc=1284288368}}{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref><ref name="confluenceMB2008" />

There is no single definition of the phrase "literature from North East India", as the diversity of this region defies easy definition. Broadly, this phrase refers mostly to English writing but may also include [[Assamese literature]] and writings in the [[Meitei language]], that have long traditions of writing and stand on their own with a glorious legacy.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Many writers such as [[Harekrishna Deka]] and [[Temsula Ao]] have expressed discomfort with the term North-East India and North Eastern writers, respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sentinelassam.com/sunday/melange_feature_2.php?sec=31&subsec=0&id=150&dtP=2009-10-25&ppr=2#150|title=Voices from North East|publisher=Sentinel|first=Joydeep|last=Hazarika|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719035622/http://www.sentinelassam.com/sunday/melange_feature_2.php?sec=31&subsec=0&id=150&dtP=2009-10-25&ppr=2#150|archive-date=19 July 2011}}</ref> A section also strongly argue that the term is colonial and, hence, an artificial construct. There is nothing called a "north-easterner" and the concept is purely geographical; it tends to homogenise an extremely heterogeneous cluster of people, as there exists no common history and heritage of the people in North-East India;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assamtimes.org/blog/3588.html|title="Northeast" Identity: an Artificial Construct|first=Kamaljit|last=Deka|date=1 December 2009|publisher=Assam Times|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215051446/http://www.assamtimes.org/blog/3588.html|archive-date=15 December 2009}}</ref> however, the current states of [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[Mizoram]] and [[Meghalaya]] used to be constituent states of former British [[Assam]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==Recent interest==
Since 2008, national magazines and journals have taken unprecedented amount of interest in writings from this region. Several national news magazines have featured special issues on writers from the North East.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub120909singing_in.asp|title=Singing in the Dark Times|publisher=Tehelka|last=Gill|first=Preeti|date=12 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912014929/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub120909singing_in.asp |archive-date=2012-09-12 }}</ref><ref name=voicesfromNE2009>{{cite web|url=http://pratilipi.in/2009/03/voices-from-the-north-east/|script-title=hi:उत्तर-पूर्व की आवाज़|trans-title=Voices from North-East|publisher=Pratilipi|date=March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416043429/http://pratilipi.in/2009/03/voices-from-the-north-east/|archive-date=16 April 2009|language=hi}}</ref> The profusion of literature from North East has also generated immense interest within and outside the nation.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

[[Mitra Phukan]], [[Bhabananda Deka]], [[Dhruba Hazarika]], [[Temsula Ao]], [[Mamang Dai]], Arnab Jan Deka, [[Jahnavi Barua]], [[Anjum Hasan]], [[Siddhartha Deb]], Robin S Ngangom, Kynpham Sing Nongkymrih, Desmond L Kharmawphlang, Nabina Das, Uddipana Goswami, Nitoo Das, Manash Pratim Borah, [[Prodyut Kumar Deka]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/at.asp?id=sep2517/Page11|title=Magical Discovery|publisher=Assam Tribune|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925180857/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/at.asp?id=sep2517/Page11|archive-date=25 September 2017}}</ref> Ananya S Guha and [[Rashmi Narzary]] are some English-language writers from the North East. Malsawmi Jacob was the first [[Mizo people|Mizo]] to publish a novel in English.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baos.pub/literature-from-mizoram-zorami-93cb5507398e|title=Literature from Mizoram: 'Zorami' |date=14 May 2022|publisher=Books Are Our Superpower|last=Saikia|first=Nayanika|access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/57733/giving-words-voice-mizo-women/ |title=Meet Malsawmi Jacob - First Mizo Author to Write an English Language Novel |date=12 June 2016 |last=Hanghal|first=Ninglun|publisher=The Better India}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.flinders.edu.au/index.php/wic/article/view/8|title=In conversation with Malsawmi Jacob |last=Sarangi|first=Jaydeep|date= 2017|journal=Writers in Conversation|volume=4|number=1|doi=10.22356/wic.v4i1.8|page=1|doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Assamese people|Assamese]] writers and Indian top literary award Jnanpith winners Dr [[Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya]], who was also President of India's top literary body [[Sahitya Academy]], and Dr [[Indira Goswami]], alias [[Mamoni Raisom Goswami]], were the most famous literary figures to emerge from this region. 'NELive' selected Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami together with Homen Borgohain, Nirupama Borgohain, Mitra Phukan and Arnab Jan Deka as the '5 Contemporary Writers from Assam who made it big outside the state' and also illustrated their individual literary credentials.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Oxford anthology of writings from North-East India |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-first=Tilottoma|editor-last=Misra |isbn=978-0-19-806748-1 |location=New Delhi |oclc=720837158}}{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref><ref name=NELive>{{cite web|last1=Ghosh|first1=Arnab|title=Top 5 Contemporary Writers from Assam|date=23 January 2016|url=http://www.nelive.in/assam/entertainment/top-5-contemporary-writers-assam|publisher=NE Live|accessdate=15 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131145548/http://www.nelive.in/assam/entertainment/top-5-contemporary-writers-assam|archive-date=31 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Literary awards ==

=== Assamese literature ===

* [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Assamese|Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Assamese]]
* [[List of Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Assamese|Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Assamese]]

=== Bodo literature ===

* [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Bodo|Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Bodo]]
* [[List of Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Bodo|Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Bodo]]

=== Meitei literature ===
* [[Meitei literature]]
** Sahitya Akademi awards
*** [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Meitei|Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Meitei]]
*** [[List of Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Meitei|Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize winners for Meitei]]
*** [[Yuva Puraskar for Meitei]]
** Patriotic Writers' Forum awards
*** [[Meitei Language Day#Award ceremony|Pacha Meetei Literary Award]]
*** [[Meitei Language Day#Award ceremony|R Kathing Tangkhul Literary Award]]
*** [[Meitei Language Day#Award ceremony|Dr Saroj Nalini Parratt Literary Award]]

==Critical responses==
The younger generation of English-language writers from North-East India include [[Jahnavi Barua]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.in/book_author/jahnavi-barua/|title=Jahnavi Barua|publisher=Penguin India}}</ref> Arnab Jan Deka,<ref name="NELive"/><ref name="The Assam Tribune">{{cite news|work=The Assam Tribune|title=Poetry by the Banks|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/showpage.asp?id=dec2714%2C11%2C1083%2C162%2C330%2C1995|accessdate=29 December 2014|issue=352|date=27 Dec 2014|volume=76|first=Arindam|last=Barooah|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402183644/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/showpage.asp?id=dec2714%2C11%2C1083%2C162%2C330%2C1995|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Luit to Thames"/> [[Siddhartha Sarma]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://utpalborpujari.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/|first= Utpal|last=Borpujari|date=14 November 2009|title=Of Grasshoppers and Hilly Tales|via=WordPress|accessdate=22 March 2015}}</ref> Nitoo Das,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://international.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=12945|title=Nitoo Das|date=3 November 2008|first=Meena|last=Kandasamy|publisher=Poetry International|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721051623/http://india.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=12945|archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref> Janice Pariat, Nabanita Kanungo, Mona Zote, [[Ankush Saikia]], Bijoya Sawian{{cn|date=May 2025}} and Uddipana Goswami.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museindia.com/showauth7.asp?id=529|title=Profile: Uddipana Goswami|publisher=Muse India|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516161426/http://www.museindia.com/showauth7.asp?id=529|archive-date=16 May 2008}}</ref> These writers express strong political awareness by addressing issues such as identity and ethnicity; a few hailing from Assam interrogate the violence that has ravaged their home state Assam due to the tussle between the secessionist militant group [[ULFA]] and the Indian government in complex ways. Some of them like Arnab Jan Deka delved deep into the spiritual and intellectual heritage along the Brahmaputra valley, and also highlighted its environmental fragility.<ref name="Luit to Thames"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Barooah|first=Arindam |title=The Connecting Link |url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/showpage.asp?id=apr1815,13,978,153,444,1575 |accessdate=23 April 2015 |publisher=Assam Tribune |date=18 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418220018/http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/showpage.asp?id=apr1815%2C13%2C978%2C153%2C444%2C1575 |archivedate=18 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Anwesha Roy Choudhury">{{cite web|last=Choudhury|first=Anwesha Roy|date=4 June 2015|title=New generation of storytellers|url=http://www.nelive.in/north-east/art-culture/new-generation-storytellers|publisher=NE Live|accessdate=15 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614033644/http://www.nelive.in/north-east/art-culture/new-generation-storytellers|archive-date=14 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub120909younger_writers.asp|title='Younger Writers Have A Pan-Indian Sensibility But Return To Their Roots'|first=Gaurav|last=Jain|publisher=Tehelka|date=12 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102090049/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=hub120909younger_writers.asp|archive-date=2 January 2010}}</ref>

Discussing the work of the new generation of writers from North East, Preeti Gill says, "Many younger writers continue to grapple with these issues. Having grown up in the shadow of the gun, their desire to analyse the common people’s reaction to insurgency is as strong as ever."{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Literary journal ''Pratilipi'' adumbrates the issues that concern writers from North East India in its special feature, "It is tragic that the long-running unrest, violence and terrorism in the North-East has remained a mere digression in the mainstream of the Indian nation-state – ironically, even in the mainstream arts that otherwise come across as very charged and political. The poems by Uddipana Goswami and six poets translated by [[Tarun Bhartiya]], along with stories by [[Mitra Phukan]] and [[Srutimala Duara]] serve as a reminder that the "North-East" is not a geographical, political unit, but a place of many languages and cultures."<ref name=voicesfromNE2009/>

The internationally acclaimed iconic journal ''Art of Living Guide'' edited by Spain-based novelist, screenwriter and philanthropist Claire Elizabeth Terry, which carries regular columns by several Nobel laureates like Mikhail Gorbachev, Dalai Lama and Camilo Jose Sela, published a special essay of popular British poet and environmentalist Tess Joyce on the aesthetics of philosophical realms and lifestyle on the Banks of Brahmaputra in Assam by highlighting Arnab Jan Deka's book of poetry ''A Stanza of Sunlight on the Banks of Brahmaputra'', which says, "Written during his high school years, Arnab’s poems plunged the reader into further depths – into the midst of the universe itself and the riverine landscapes only served to increase the levels of complexity the narrator saw; we are left to realise that no-one is big enough to hold the universe and so: ''"Yet with no empty space left on the boat/the Universe sat quietly beside the reeds."'' Imbibed with a sense of awe, the narrator’s desires for explanations disappeared – it was the poetry that satisfied him, hence: ''"On the bald head of the dusty earth/Ashwaklanta bestowed a stanza of sunlight."''<ref name="Luit to Thames"/> A more extensive version of this literary masterpiece on literature from North East India also found a place of pride in the London-based research journal ''Luit to Thames''.<ref name="Luit to Thames">{{cite journal|last1=Joyce|first1=Tess|title=Poetry & the Brahmaputra : Flowing Back to Nature|journal=Luit to Thames|date=February 2014|volume=14|issue=February 2014}}</ref> In the prestigious Delhi-based journal ''The Book Review'', critic and poet N Kalyani admires Arnab Jan Deka's poetry from the same book, "And in ''These Small Thoughts'' Deka reveals what Umananda is, 'A tiny river island amidst the mighty river Brahmaputra near the prehistoric city of Pragjyotishpur, known by its modern name Guwahati now,' in a way that brings the image so alive: ''The tiny rivulet reflect a myriad of colour/The distant Umananda--a majestic aloof lily pad/The blackish riverbank with flowing wind/The cities dreaming of fleeced nomad/Besides the tidal marina''."<ref name="The Book Review">{{cite journal|last1=Kalyani|first1=N.|title=Poetry for Rhyme and Reason|journal=The Book Review|date=April 2014|volume=XXXVIII|issue=4|url=http://www.thebookreviewindia.org/author/arnab-jan-deka/2957.html|accessdate=29 December 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626110401/http://www.thebookreviewindia.org/author/arnab-jan-deka/2957.html|archivedate=26 June 2015}}</ref>

==List of writers from North-East India==
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Ananda Chandra Agarwala]]
* [[Ananda Chandra Barua]]
* [[Ananda Ram Baruah]]
* [[Ankush Saikia]]
* [[Anuradha Sharma Pujari]]
* [[Arupa Kalita Patangia]]
* [[Arup Kumar Dutta]]
* [[Amulya Barua]]
* [[Atul Chandra Hazarika]]
* [[Banikanta Kakati]]
* [[Bhabananda Deka]]
* [[Bhabendra Nath Saikia]]
* Bijoya Sawian
* [[Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya]]
* [[Birinchi Kumar Barua]]
* [[Brajanath Sarma]]
* [[Chandra Kumar Agarwala]]
* [[Daisy Hasan]]
* [[Dhrubajyoti Bora]]
* [[Dhruba Hazarika]]
* [[Easterine Kire]]
* [[Dimbeswar Neog]]
* [[Dr Manish Das]]
* [[Harekrishna Deka]]
* [[Hem Chandra Barua]]
* [[Hem Chandra Goswami]]
* [[Hem Barua]]
* [[Hem Barua (Tyagbir)]]
* [[Hiren Gohain]]
* [[Homen Borgohain]]
* [[Irom Chanu Sharmila]]
* [[Jahnavi Barua]]
* [[Janice Pariat]]
* [[Jogesh Das]]
* [[Jyoti Prasad Agarwala]]
* [[Kaliram Medhi]]
* [[Kamalakanta Bhattacharya (Assam)|Kamalakanta Bhattacharya]]
* [[Krishna Kanta Handique]]
* [[Kochery C Shibu]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://menanddreamsinthedhauladhar.com/indian-writers-in-english-literature-and-their-works.php|title=Indian writers in English literature and their works|publisher=Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921084155/http://menanddreamsinthedhauladhar.com/indian-writers-in-english-literature-and-their-works.php |archive-date=21 September 2016 }}</ref>
* [[Laksminath Bezbarua]]
* [[M. K. Binodini Devi|Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi]]
* [[Malsawmi Jacob]]
* [[Mamang Dai]]
* [[Mamoni Raisom Goswami]]
* [[Mithinga Daimary]]
* [[Mitra Phukan]]
* [[Nalini Bala Devi]]
* [[Nalini Prava Deka]]
* [[Navakanta Barua]]
* [[Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi]]
* [[Padmanath Gohain Baruah]]
* [[Parag Kumar Das]]
* [[Phani Sarma]]
* [[Prodyut Kumar Deka]]
* [[Raghunath Choudhari]]
* [[Rashmi Narzary]]
* [[Rita Chowdhury]]
* [[Rongbong Terang]]
* [[Rumi Laskar Bora]]
* [[Saurabh Kumar Chaliha]]
* [[Siddhartha Sarma]]
* [[Srutimala Duara]]
* [[Surya Kumar Bhuyan]]
* Tanupriya Kalita
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[Assamese literature]]
* [[Meitei literature]]
* [[Indian English literature]]
* [[Indian literature]]
* [[Insurgency in Northeast India]]
* [[Mizo literature]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091109042614/http://www.livemint.com/2009/11/05193357/Songs-of-the-hills.html Songs of the Hills] by Anindita Ghose via ''Mint'' (2009 archive)
* [https://archive.today/20121216115243/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100409/jsp/northeast/story_12320117.jsp A site to behold the seven sisters - Page on Facebook endeavours to showcase the best of the region] by Alpita Jena via ''Telegraph India'' (2012 archive)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120328124318/http://www.arjunchoudhuri.com/ Arjun Choudhuri's website] (2012 archive)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181017163910/http://www.assamkart.com/ Ebooks of North-East India] (2018 archive)
* [http://www.manashpratim.blogspot.in Manash Pratim Borah] on blogspot

{{DEFAULTSORT:Literature From North East India}}
[[Category:Culture of Northeast India]]
[[Category:Indian literature]]
[[Category:Indian literature in English| ]]
[[Category:Writers from Northeast India]]

Literature of North East India - Revision history

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