Archive · 14 Sep 2026
Bengali Writer and Tagore Translator Ketaki Kushari Dyson Dies
Ketaki Kushari Dyson was a writer and scholar who used both Bengali and English.
She wrote poems, novels, plays, essays and books about literature.
She was especially known for translating the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore.
Her Tagore translation was first published in 1991 and later expanded.
She also studied Tagore’s writing and artwork.
Dyson was born in Calcutta in 1940 and later lived in Britain.
Her publisher said she was one of the outstanding Bengali writers of her generation.
She died at her home in Oxford at the age of 86.
Ketaki Kushari Dyson died at her home in Kidlington, Oxford, aged 86, after suffering age-related illnesses.
Her UK publisher, Bloodaxe Books, paid tribute to her following her death on Friday.
Dyson wrote more than 30 works in Bengali and English across poetry, fiction, drama, essays, translation and scholarship.
Her 1991 translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s poems was expanded in 2010 and became a Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation.
She received several literary honors, including University of Calcutta and Ananda awards, and the 2009 Star Ananda Award.
- Who
- Ketaki Kushari Dyson, a Bengali-English writer, translator and scholar.
- What
- She died, prompting a tribute from her UK publisher, Bloodaxe Books.
- When
- She died on Friday; the tribute was issued on Saturday.
- Where
- Her home in Kidlington, Oxford, Britain.
- Why
- The article says she had been suffering from age-related illnesses.
- Lifespan
- 1940–2026
- Age at death
- 86
- Languages
- Bengali and English
- Tagore translation
- I Won’t Let You Go: Selected Poems by Rabindranath Tagore, published in 1991 and expanded in 2010
- Major publisher
- Bloodaxe Books
- Awards
- Bhubanmohini Dasi Medal, two Ananda Awards, and the 2009 Star Ananda Award
- Survivors
- Her husband, Robert Dyson, and sons Virgil Pujari Dyson and Igor Niladri Dyson