Sahitya Akademi Announces Winners for 2017, 24 Writers Recognised

The Sahitya Akademi logo. 

(Courtesy: The News Minute)

Sahitya Akademi, India's national academy of letters, on 21 December, Friday announced its annual awards, recognising the literary works of 24 writers writing in 24 Indian languages.

<p>Seven books of novels, five of poetry, five of short stories, five of literary criticism, and one of play and essays have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2017.</p>

<p>K Sreenivasarao, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi</p>

The awards will be conferred upon the winners during a ceremony on 12 February 2018.

Mamang Dai's name has been selected for his English novel The Black Hill, and Niranjan Mishra is in the list of winners for his Sanskrit novel Gangaputravadanam, KP Ramanunni has won for Daivathinte Pusthakam in Malayalam, and Nachhattar for his Punjabi novel Slow Down.

The poets who feature in the list of winners are Udaya Narayana Singh (Maithili), Shrikant Deshmukh (Marathi), Bhujanga Tudu (Santali), Inqulab (Tamil) and Devipriya (Telugu).

Inqulab’s family, however, refused to accept the award for his collections of poems titled "Kaandhal Naatkal."

<p>My father was not running behind any award. He wrote expecting action by authorities against him and not expecting any award. He had told us that he will decline the Sahitya Akademi award if he was given one.</p>

<p>Inqulab’s son S Inqulab</p>

S Inqulab said the late poet had returned the Kalaimamani Award given by the Tamil Nadu government to protest against the state government's alleged failure to protect Sri Lankan Tamils, adding that accepting the award would be an insult to his father.

Five writers awarded for their short stories are Shiv Mehta (Dogri), Autar Krishen Rahbar (Kashmiri), Gajanan Jog (Konkani), Gayatri Saraf (Odia), and Baig Ehsas (Urdu).

Ramesh Kuntal Megh (Hindi), TP Ashoka (Kannada), Urmi Ghanshyam Desai (Gujarati), Bina Hangkhim (Nepali), and Neeraj Daiya (Rajasthani) have been recognised for their literary criticism.

Jagdish Lachhani (Sindhi) for his essays and Rajen Toijamba (Manipuri) for his play are also among the winners.

The award, given for books published between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2015, includes a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl, and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.

An Important Announcement

Sreenivasarao also took the opportunity to announce the theme for Sahitya Akademi's next edition of 'Festival of Letters' – '70 years of Indian Independence'.

<p>A national seminar will also be organised on ‘70 Years of Indian Independence – Literary Portraits.</p>

<p>K Sreenivasarao</p>

"A dialogue between publishers and writers will be held during the festival, where upcoming authors can talk about the problems they face like royalties, copyrights and translation. We have never held something like this before," he said.

The Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize 2017 was also announced with names of 24 translators. The prize carries a cash award of Rs 50, 000.

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