Sahitya Akademy awards for three Assam writers

Poet Jn Pujari for 'Meghmalar Bhraman', poet Anjali rzary for 'Ang Maboroi Dong Sasong' and novelist Gita Upadhyay for 'Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh' bring laurels to the State

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Dec 21: Three writers from Assam have been med for this year's prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award. Assamese poet Jn Pujari, Bodo poet Anjali rzary and Nepali novelist Gita Upadhyay were among the recipients med on Wednesday.

Pujari was given the award for his collection of poems in Assamese titled 'Meghmalar Bhraman', rzary for collection of poems in Bodo titled 'Ang Maboroi Dong Sasong' and Upadhyay for novel in Nepali language titled 'Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh'.

The awards comprising a casket containing an engraved copper plaque, as well as a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1,00,000 will be presented to the recipients here on February 22, 2017.

In his statement, Pujari said, "My poetry is mostly inspired by Assam's tural beauty and problems faced by the State. I am really happy that my imagition has filly been paid off through this award. Assamese poetry has been given its due recognition."

IANS from New Delhi adds: Noted English novelist Jerry Pinto and Hindi author sira Sharma were among the 24 authors med for the Sahitya Akademi Award 2016. They were cited for 'Em and the Big Hoom' and 'Paarijat' respectively. Boluwaru Mohammad Kunhi was med for 'Swatantryada Ota' in Kanda, Edwin J.F.D Souza for 'Kale Bhangar' in Konkani and Gita Upadhyay for 'Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh' in Nepali.

Eight poets were also honoured: Jn Pujari ('Meghmalar Bhraman'/Assamese), Anjali rzary ('Ang Maboroi Dong Dasong'/ Bodo), Kamal Vora ('Anekek'/Gujarati), Prabha Varma ('Shyamamadhavam'/Malayalam), Sitath Acharya ('Kavyanirjhari'/Sanskrit), Gobinda Chandra Majhi ('lha'/Santhali), nd Javeri ('Akhar Katha'/Sindhi) and Papineni Sivasankar ('Rajanigandha'/Telegu).

Seven writers were cited for short stories: Chahatrapal ('Cheta'/Dogri), Shyan Darihare ('Barki Kaki at Hotmail Dot Com'/Maithili), Moirangthem Rajen ('Cheptharaba Eshingpun'/Manipuri), Asaram Lomate ('Aalok'/Marathi, Paramita Satpathy ('Prapti'/Odia), Bulaki Sharma ('Murdjat Ar Dujee Kahaniyan'/Rajasthani) Vandhasan 'Oru Siru Isai'/Tamil).

Aziz Hajini ('Aane Khane'/Kashmiri) and Nizam Siddiqui 'Mabad-e-Jadidiat Se ye Ahed Ki Takhliqiyat Tak'/Urdu) were awarded for their books on criticism. Nrisinghaprasad Bhaduri has been honoured for his essay 'Mahabharater Astadashi' in Bengali and Swarajbir for his play 'Masia Di Raat' in Punjabi.