Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Publication Board Assam on Thursday declared that its annual Literature Award 2024 will be presented to noted Assamese litterateur Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi for his book Dhar Aru Anyanya Golpo, and the publishers Banalata will receive the Publishers Award for 2024.
The Publication Board Assam Literature Award 2024 to the noted author will comprise an amount of Rs 5 lakh, a citation, an Anga Bastra, and a bundle of books, while the publisher will get an amount of Rs 3 lakh, a citation, an Anga Bastra, and a bundle of books.
The awards will be presented at a function during the Assam Book Fair 2024-25 from December 27, 2024, to January 7, 2025, at the Veterinary College Field in Khanapara. The Assam Book Fair 2024-25 will be jointly organized by the Publication Board Assam & All Assam Publishers & Book Sellers Association.
Publication Board Assam secretary Pramod Kalita said, "This time 118 publishers and booksellers will participate in the book fair. 15 are from Kolkata, 17 from Delhi and Haryana, 2 from Punjab, 1 from Hyderabad, and the remaining are from the state. There will be 350 stalls. The inauguration will take place on Friday at 3 p.m. Education minister Ranoj Pegu, distinguished historian, journalist, and academic Dr. Hindol Sengupta, and president of the Federation of Publishers and Book Sellers Association in India, Surinder Kumar Ghai, will be present at the opening ceremony of the Assam Book Fair 2024-25."
Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi is an Assamese writer who was born on June 13, 1952. His first literary creation is a poem named Junbai.
Thongchi was honoured with the Padmashri in 2020. He also received the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2005 for his Assamese novel Mouna Outh Mukhar Hriday, Kalaguru Bishnu Rabha Literary Award from the Axam Xahitya Xabha in 2001; Sukapha Award from the government of Assam in 2021; Assam Valley Literary Award from Williamson Magor Educational Trust in 2017; Bhasha Bharati Award from the Central Institute of Indian languages (CIIL) Mysore, in 2005; Acharjya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Sanman from Hindi Parishad, Prayagraj, in 2019; Bodosa Award from All Moran Students Union in 2019; Special Achievement Award (Literature) from the Buddhist Cultural Preservation Society, Bomdila in 2013; Sadin-Pratidin Gosthi Special Achievement Award (Literature and Journalism) in 2017; Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Sanhati Bota in 2016 by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Trust; Rangbang Terang Samanyay Award, 2018 by Sinthar Prakashan, Bokoliaghat, Karbi Anglong; Dr. Maidul Islam Bora Literary Award, 2014 from the Dr. M.I Bora Trust; Lakshminath Bezbaruah Literary Award 2018; and D.Litt (Honoris Causa) from Dibrugarh University.
Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi's novels include Mauna Outh Mukhar Hriday, Sonam, Lingjhik, Bih Kanyar Dexat, Xaw Kota Manuh, Mishing, and Moi Akou Janam Lom, among others.
His short story collections include: Papor Pukhuri, Bah Fular Gundh, Anya Ekhan Pratiyugita, and Dhar Aru Ananya Galpa.
Notably, he translated into Assamese His Holiness Dalai Lama's autobiography, Freedom in Exile, with his foreword, naming it Prabahat Mukta Jiwan.
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