K.C. Kanda holds a doctorate in English and a first-class first Masters degree in Urdu literature. It was this double competence in English and Urdu, and his life-long adoration of Urdu poetry, that prompted him to undertake the translation of the best of Urdu poetry into English. A recipient of the Delhi Urdu Academy Award for 'excellence in translation' in 1998, his first book, Masterpieces of Urdu Ghazal, was published in 1990. Since then, he has produced eight other books of this kind on Urdu Poetry and on individual poets like Mir Taqi Mir and Firaq Gorakhpuri. All these books (published by Sterling) are very well received by the readers, and have run into several editions. In addition, he has written the following books relating to English poetry: An Anthology of English Poetry (Arnold Heinemann), The Two Worlds of Tennyson (Doaba), Tennyson's In Memoriam (Sterling), and Browning's Selected Dramatic Monologues (Sterling).