Gone Away

Introduced by Jeet Thayli, author of Booker Prize shortlisted novel Narcopolis.

At the age of 20, Dom Moraes - already a celebrated poet who would go on to be regarded as one of India's finest writers - returned to his native India after finishing education in England. After spending time in Delhi, meeting Jawaharlal Nehru and the young Dalai Lama, he embarked on a meandering journey through northern India, Nepal and Sikkim at a time of political tension and the threat of invasion by China.

Brilliant, curious and precocious, seldom without a drink in his hand, he chanced his way into some extraordinary situations - including staying in a Nepalese palace with a resident bear and being shot at and chased by Chinese soldiers. Gone Away details these adventures with a poet's eye for detail, and the luminosity and humour for which Moraes was known.

Dominic Francis Moraes (1938-2004) was born in Bombay and educated in London and Oxford. The first Indian poet to win the prestigious Hawthornden Prize, he went on to publish numerous books including poetry, essays and biography, edit magazines in the UK, US and Hong Kong, and work as a war correspondent. He is a renowned figure in English Indian literature.

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