Manilal H. Patel

Manilal Haridas Patel (born 9 November 1949) is a Gujarati poet, essayist, novelist, and literary critic from Gujarat, India. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the 2007 Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak literary medal for his significant contributions to Gujarati literature. Patel was born on 9 November 1949 in the village of Golana Palla near Lunavada (now in the Mahisagar district, Gujarat) to Ambaben and Haridas, an agriculturist. He had five siblings. Patel studied at a school in his village until grade four, and then attended a school in the nearby village of Madhvas. He completed his Secondary School Certificate (S.S.C.) in 1967. He completed a B. A. in Gujarati and English in 1971 and a M. A. in Gujarati and Sanskrit in 1973. In 1979, Patel received a PhD for his thesis Arvachin Gujarati Kavitama Pranaynirupan (Depiction of Love in Modern Gujarati Poetry) under the guidance of Dhirubhai Thaker.