William Radice (1951-2024) was a poet, and a scholar and translator of Bengali, and wrote or edited more than thirty books.
He has many translations from Bengali to his name, most notably of Tagore’s Selected Poems and Selected Short Stories, both of which have been reprinted many times. He also wrote Teach Yourself Bengali, and has translated works from the German. His volumes of verse have been published in the UK and South Asia.
William wrote, adapted and translated plays and librettos, including a translation of Puccini’s Turandot for English National Opera. He worked with composers including Param Vir, Bernard Hughes and Johan Othman. He gave lectures and poetry readings around the world, and received literary prizes in both India and Bangladesh.
For many years William was a Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at SOAS, University of London. His most recent books include three for Penguin India: a fully introduced and annotated translation of Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s Meghnadbadh kabya, a translation of Tagore’s short poems called The Jewel That Is Best, and a new translation of Tagore’s Gitanjali. He was married to Elizabeth and they had two daughters, and lived out his life in Northumberland.
