43rd Jnanpith Award

Veteran Malayalam poet and film lyricist O N V Kurup was declared the recipient of the Jnanpith award for 2007 on 24 Sept 2010. Winner of the 43rd Jnanpith award is the fifth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second poet from the state to win the prestigious award. ONV was born on 27 May 1931 in Chavara village, Kerela. Kurup began his illustrious poetic career during his school days. His first work, Poruthunna Soundaryam, was published in 1949. He reinvented the narrative transition of Malayalam poetry through his long poems like Ujjayini and Swayamvaram. He went on to become a college lecturer in 1957 and was associated with the profession for the next 30 years. He started writing lyrics for films in 1955 and over the years has bagged state awards for the best lyricist 12 times. He was also honoured with the Padmashree in 1998. The pro-Left writer had unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram constituency in 1991.

Important Information

The Jnanpith Award is the highest literary award in India and is given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family that is the publishers of The Times of India newspaper. The award was instituted in 1961 and in 1965 the award was given for the first time. Malayalam writer G. Sankara Kurup  was the first winner of the Jnanpith Award.  Ravindra Kelekar and Satya Vrat Shastri had won the J Award for 2006. Satya Vrat Shastri is the first Sanskrit poet to be conferred the award since its inception. The award carries a check for Rs. 700,000, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts.