K. GANDHAR CHAKRAVARTYis a poet, scholar, and musician. His poems have been published internationally and some have been translated into Bengali, the mother tongue of his most immediate ancestors. Kolkata Dreams (2009) represents his first full-length work of poetry, a collection of travel writing developed in 2001. Musically, Gandhar started performing solo when he returned to Montréal after completing a B.A. in English Literature at UWO (2002). This period of his life was punctuated by a number of electro-acoustic nights at Café Sarajevo. In retired music group, Far From Shore (FFS), he was the vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist. The CD Wazo (2006) and the EP Touch the Sky (2008) received critical acclaim and the music video for bilingual love song “Amané” was nominated at CraveFest (2007). Gandhar currently performs solo and with impromptu groups and is exploring interactive multilingual non-religious, spiritual hymns that incorporate Indian raga scales. Throughout his artistic endeavours, Gandhar has received two one-year arts grants from the Government of Québec to record music (FFS) and write poetry – Maple Vedas (2010). Academically, Gandhar has completed an M.A. in Theological Studies at Concordia University (2007) and he has also published several shorter academic works. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sciences des religions at Université de Montréal where he is a recipient of the national Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship (SSHRC). His current studies focus on African Naziritism in Ibandla lamaNazaretha and Rastafari.
Books by this Author
K. Gandhar Chakravarty
Photo © Anna Waclawek