Imbued with a distinctly urban sensibility, the poetry of Ranajit Das combines intellectual sophistication with an ironic turn of phrase and deep existential unease. The author of eleven collections of poetry, two volumes of literary essays and one novel, Das writes in Bengali. Born in Silchar, Assam, he moved later to Kolkata where he worked in the West Bengal Civil Service from which he voluntarily retired in 2006. A self-confessed lover of painting, film and football, he lives in Kolkata with his wife and son. Das’ other work includes a significant anthology of poetry from Bangladesh, entitled Bangladesher Shreshtha Kabita (2009), and a book of his poetry in English, translated by Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee, A Summer Nightmare and other Poems (from which the poems in this edition are selected). He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Birendra Chattopadhyay Memorial Award (1994), the prestigious Rabindra Puraskar (2013), and the Ramnath Bhattacharya Award (2019). He has travelled widely, and read his work at various national and international platforms.