Editing Mahadev Desai (section)

== Writings ==
Mahadev Desai was an outstanding writer, at ease with [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and English. He is highly regarded as a translator and writer in Gujarati.<ref name=":0" /> He wrote several biographies such as ''Antyaj Sadhu Nand'' (1925), ''Sant Francis'' (1936), ''Vir Vallabhbhai'' (1928) and ''Be Khudai Khidmatgar'' (1936) which was a biography of [[Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan]] and his brother [[Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan]].<ref name="AGSI2">{{cite book|title=અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો ઈતિહાસ (ગાંધીયુગ અને અનુગાંધી યુગ)|last=Brahmabhatt|first=Prasad|publisher=Parshwa Publication|year=2007|location=Ahmedabad|pages=57–60|language=gu|script-title=gu:Arvachin Gujarati Sahityano Itihas (Gandhiyug Ane Anugandhi Yug)|trans-title=History of Modern Gujarati Literature (Gandhi Era & Post-Gandhi Era)}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

He started translating when he was studying in college. He translated [[John Morley]]'s ''On Compromise'' in Gujarati and won a thousand rupees prize of the Farbas Gujarati Sabha. Later it was published as ''Satyagrahni Maryada''. From Bengali, he translated [[Saratchandra Chattopadhyaya]]'s short stories as ''Tran Vartao'' (1923) and the novella ''Virajvahu'' (1924). He also translated [[Rabindranath Tagore|Tagore's]] works into Gujarati such as ''Prachin Sahitya'' (1922), ''Chitrangada'' and ''Viday Abhishap'' (1925). He translated [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru's]] ''Autobiography'' as ''Mari Jeevanktha'' (1936) into Gujarati from English.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last=Natarajan|first=Nalini|title=Handbook of 20th Century Literatures of India|year=1996|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport|pages=112, 113|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lTnv6o-d_oC&q=mahadev+desai&pg=PA112|isbn=9780313287787}}</ref><ref name="AGSI2" /> The English translation of Gandhi's autobiography, ''[[The Story of My Experiments with Truth]]'', from its Gujarati original was also done by Desai.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.oup.co.in/author/4292|title=Mahadev Desai|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=30 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="AGSI2" />

''Mahadevbhaini Dayari'' (1948–1997) is the 22 volume publication of Mahadev Desai's diaries. These, edited by [[Narhari Parikh]] (Volume I-VI) and Chandulal Bhagubhai Dalal (VII-XXII), provide a close look at Gandhi's life and are a valuable chronicle of the major events in Gandhi's life and in Indian independence movement.<ref>{{cite book|last=Datta|first=Amaresh|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|pages=1319|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&q=mahadev+desai&pg=PA1016|isbn=9788126011940}}</ref><ref name="AGSI2" />

He was also a regular contributor to Gandhi's publications ''[[Young India]]'', ''[[Navjivan]]'' and the ''[[Harijanbandhu]]''.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="AGSI2" /> Desai was among the founding members of the ''All India Newspaper Editors' Conference''. He also frequently contributed to various nationalist Indian newspapers such as ''[[Free People's Movement|Free Press]]'', ''[[The Bombay Chronicle]]'', ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', ''[[The Hindu]]'' and ''[[Amrita Bazar Patrika]].''

He wrote several works in English including ''Gandhiji in Indian Villages'' (1927), ''With Gandhiji in Ceylon'' (1928), ''The Story of Bardoli'' (1929), ''Unworthy of Vardha'' (1943), ''The Eclipse of Faith'' (1943), ''A Righteous Struggle'' (1951) and ''Gospel of Selfless Action or The Geeta According to Gandhi'' (1946, translation of [[Anasakti Yoga|''Anasaktiyoga'']] by Gandhi).<ref name="AGSI2" />

He was posthumously awarded the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1955 for ''Mahadevbhaini Dayari''.<ref name="AGSI2" />