Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) became an international figure when his Gitanjali, an anthology of lyrics, originally written in Bengali and translated into English by the poet himself, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature–the first ever to an Asian–in 1913. Since then he came to be known not only as a great writer but also as an able spokesman of modern India. Even today he is the most widely read Indian writer. Although his reputation outside the Bengali-speaking areas rests largely, if not entirely, on his English writings, no attempt had been made to put them together. Sahitya Akademi has decided to bring out a complete collection of Tagore’s writings in English–original as well as translations done by him–in four volumes. The corpus of Tagore’s English writings, large and diverse, forms a substantial part of his total work. The first volume includes most of the poetic works translated by Tagore and a few poems that he wrote originally in English. The second volume consists of plays and stories translated by him, as well as five prose works. The third volume is a collection of different genres of writings–prose works, lectures, addresses, statements, messages and conversations. This volume, the fourth, includes the remaining poems, plays, essays, lectures and addresses, conversations, writings on books and open letters, messages and tributes.
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