Balbir Madhopuri

Balbir Madhopuri (Punjabi: ਬਲਬੀਰ ਮਾਧੋਪੁਰੀ) is a Punjabi language writer, poet and translator. He is best known for his autobiography, Chhangiya Rukh. His writings are primarily focused on the issues related to the oppressed and depressed classes, especially Dalits. In 2021, He has received The Dhahan Prize for Punjabi Literature for his novel Mitti Bol Payi. Balbir Madhopuri was born in 1955 in Madhopur, a small village in district Jalandhar, Punjab. He worked as a child labourer and an agricultural worker at his early age. Despite a humble beginning, he managed to acquire a post-graduate degree in Punjabi. Madhopuri is a Punjabi poet with three collections of poetry. His autobiography is Chhangiya Rukh which was written by him in Punjabi. Changiya Rukh (Against the Night) by Oxford University Press in 2010 has also been published in some Indian languages including Hindi and Shahmukhi (in Pakistan in 2010). In 2021, Chhangiya Rukh has been translated in Urdu by Ajmal Kamal.Madhopuri has authored 14 books in his mother tongue. Apart from his original works he has translated two and thirty into Punjabi from Hindi and English. He has also edited 40 books in Punjabi. He wrote research papers on Ghadar Movement, Revolutionaries, Naxal poet Pash, Dalit Movements in Punjab and India etc. have been published and included in the books edited by different scholars.