Sahitya Akademi Awards 2017 announced

Current Affairs, 22 December 2017

India's national academy of letters Sahitya Akademi on 21 December 2017 announced its annual awards, recognising the literary works of 24 writers in 24 different Indian languages.

Seven novels, five poetries, five short stories, five literary criticism, and one play and one essay won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2017.

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

Awardees

• English: Mamang Dai was awarded in English language for his novel The Black Hill.

• Hindi: Ramesh Kuntal Megh won the award in Hindi for his literary criticism work Vishw Mithak Sarit Sagar.

• Sanskrit: Niranjan Mishra was awarded for his Sanskrit novel Gangaputravadanam

• Malayalam: KP Ramanunni won for Daivathinte Pusthakam in Malayalam

• Punjabi: Nachhattar was awarded for his Punjabi novel Slow Down.

• Poets: Udaya Narayana Singh (Maithili), Shrikant Deshmukh (Marathi), Bhujanga Tudu (Santali), Inqulab (Tamil) and Devipriya (Telugu). However, Tamilian poet Inqulab’s family refused to accept the award for his collections of poems titled "Kaandhal Naatkal.

• Short Stories: Shiv Mehta (Dogri), Autar Krishen Rahbar (Kashmiri), Gajanan Jog (Konkani), Gayatri Saraf (Odia) and Baig Ehsas (Urdu).

• Literary Criticism: Ramesh Kuntal Megh (Hindi), TP Ashoka (Kannada), Urmi Ghanshyam Desai (Gujarati), Bina Hangkhim (Nepali) and Neeraj Daiya (Rajasthani).

• Essay: Jagdish Lachhani (Sindhi) was awarded for his essays.

• Play: Rajen Toijamba (Manipuri) won for his play.

The award prize includes a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl, and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.

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