The people behind the poetry
Poets
Notebook entry — the voices behind these translations, listed with the works currently available in English. Some are named; some are anonymous. Each one left the language a little different.
Akkamahadevi
Sharana · 12th century · Kannada8 Vachanas
A 12th-century woman who walked out on the world, singing.
Aydakki Lakkamma
Sharana · 12th century · Kannada2 Vachanas
A farmhand's voice asking God for very little.
D. V. Gundappa
1887–1975 · Kannada279 Kaggas
A wise old sceptic shrugging at life, four lines at a time.
Da Ra Bendre
1896–1981 · Kannada10 works
The volcano of Kannada poetry — ecstasy, mathematics and song.
Dr. Waman Bendre
1935–2016 · Kannada1 essay
The custodian of Bendre's papers, on the poet and science.
Duggale
Sharana · 12th century · Kannada1 Vachana
A working woman's sharp, salty speech — 800 years ahead of its time.
Kalavve
Sharana · 12th century · Kannada1 Vachana
A weaver whose single surviving song spins thread into a vow.
Kuvempu
1904–1994 · Kannada1 work
The grand modern voice of Kannada — forests, rivers and the human spirit.
Lord Krishna
Ancient · Sanskrit3 Adhyayas
The Gita — philosophy of yoga; a roar, a call for action, asked on a battlefield.
Masti Venkatesh Iyengar
1891–1986 · Kannada1 work
The storyteller of old Karnataka — gentle, exact, unforgettable.
Remmavve
Sharana · 12th century · Kannada4 Vachanas
She spun yarn by day and spent it all on wandering ascetics.