Linda is a writer, scholar, Stanford Emerita faculty, and acclaimed translator of the great Indian poet Kabir. Her forthcoming book is a memoir in essays — Shining Darkness: Tales of Violence and Love (Monkfish Publishing, Dec 2026) It weaves stories of addiction, trauma, healing, and Buddhist practice into a larger frame of violence and nonviolence in self and society.
More books from Linda Hess
The Bijak of Kabir, with Shukdev Singh (North Point/Oxford University Press)
A Touch of Grace: Songs of Kabir (Shambhala Centaur Editions)
Bodies of Song: Kabir Oral Traditions and Performative Worlds in North India (Oxford University Press)
Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva Performs the Poetry of Kabir (Seagull Books)
”“Hess is rightly regarded as by far the best translator of Kabir into English. Her translations display so singular a voice that sometimes it is hard to decide if Hess is channeling Kabir or Kabir is channeling Hess.”
David LorenzenKabir scholar, Professor Emeritus of South Asian History at El Colegio de México.
Linda Hess is currently co-translating a large collection of Kabir poems from a 400-year-old manuscript, to be published by Harvard University Press. Since she believes it’s good for scholars to sing, she can often be found singing the songs of Kabir.
