About
Madan Mohan Danish, born Madan Mohan Mishra on 8 September 1961 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, is a highly regarded contemporary Urdu poet, admired by critics and readers alike. After an early life of struggle he settled in Gwalior, where he completed his higher education and held senior positions at All India Radio, with which he remains associated. He writes under the pen name Danish.
Danish is celebrated for a simple, effortless and direct style, with a distinct mastery of small meters and couplets that etch themselves into memory, on motifs of love, life, death and the night. His collections sell out as soon as they are published, the latest being Asman Fursat Mein Hai, and his name is a crowd-drawer at mushairas across India and in Dubai, Qatar, Sharjah, Pakistan, the United States and Canada. He has received the Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy Award.
The artistry
Danish writes with a disarming simplicity and directness, as if speaking straight to the reader, and is a master of the short meter, in which his couplets land with memorable force. His verse looks unflinchingly at life's bitterness.
Danish is a proven mushaira crowd-drawer and a stamp of success for any poetry event, with strong reach among general audiences. Ideal to headline or anchor an Urdu-poetry evening. [Atlas Assessment]
One of the most popular living mushaira poets, prized for making the Urdu ghazal immediate and accessible.