Kurukh Writers / Writers from the Oraon or Kurukh Community
Writers from the Oraon or Kurukh community. (The community refers to itself as Kurukh; "Oraon" is an exonym). There are close to four million Kurukh people in India, most heavily concentrated in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Odisha. The Kurukh language is a Dravidian languages.
Grace Kujur (1949- ): A poet and playwright from the Kurukh (exonym: Oraon/Uraon) community who writes in Hindi. (Read our author profile here)
Mahadev Toppo (1954- ): A Kurukh (exonym: Oraon/Uraon) writer who has written poetry, novellas, short stories and plays in Hindi. (Read our author profile here) (Our translation of his poem "I am a poet of the forest")
Ujjwala Jyoti Tigga (1960- ): A poet and blogger from the Kurukh (exonym: Oraon/Uraon) community who writes in Hindi and English. (Read our author profile here) (Our translation of her poem "Earth's Unnamed Warriors" originally published in the Kavi Man Jani Man anthology edited by Vandana Tete)
Jacinta Kerketta (1983-): A poet and journalist from the Kurukh (exonym: Uraon/Oraon) community who has been active in advocating for Adivasi communities in Jharkhand. She writes mainly in Hindi. (Read our author profile here) (Our translations of her poems "Care", "Can You Return?", and "Jamuni, Stop Yourself from Being Sold")
Dr. Francisca Kujur (1959- ): Kurukh/Oraon writer, poet and translator from Jharkhand who writes in Kurukh and Hindi. (Our translation of her poems "Just Think, Hira" and "Only Questions") (Hindi profile)
Jyoti Lakra (1976- ): Kurukh/Oraon writer and poet writing in Hindi. Her work deals with themes of Adivasiyat, feminism, and resistance. She is also an artist currently pursuing an MFA at the University of East London. (Our translation of her poem "The Sal Tree has Fallen" and short story "Korain Duba" here) (LinkedIn profile)
Peter Paul Ekka (unknown- 2018): A Hindi writer from the Kurukh community. (English obituary here) (Read his short story "Ve Chaar Varsh" or "Those Four Years" in Hindi here)
Shanti Khalkho (1963- ) is an Oraon/Kurukh writer from Jharkhand. In 1993, she completed a Ph.D. from Ranchi University on "The Direction of Cultural Change Among the Oraon Tribes." She publishes in both Hindi and Kurukh, and her writings have been broadcast on All-India Radio. She is the author of four books. A selection of her poems appeared in the anthology Kavi Man Jani Man. Our translation of her poem, "Green Jharkhand" is here.
Arun Kumar Oraon