New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI/newsin.asia) Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam and Karnataka politician-poet M.Veerappa Moily are among 20 writers who will be bestowed with the Indian Sahitya Akademi Award for 2020.
The Indian inational academy of letters announced the names on Friday during the opening day of its annual ”Festival of Letters” event.
While Arundhathi Subramaniam won the award for her poetry collection WHEN GOD IS A TRAVELLER in English, Moily was named for his epic poetry titled “Sri Bahubali Ahimsadigvijayam” in Kannada.
Arundhathi Subramaniam’s poems explore ambivalences — the desire for adventure and anchorage, expansion and containment, vulnerability and strength, freedom and belonging, withdrawal and engagement, language as exciting resource and as desperate refuge. These are poems of wonder and precarious elation, and all the roadblocks and rewards on the long dangerous route to recovering what it is to be alive and human. Winner of the inaugural Khushwant Singh Poetry Prize and shortlisted for the 2014 T.S. Eliot Prize. WHEN GOD IS A TRAVELLER published by Harper Collins isavailable in paperback also.
Arundhathi Subramainaum’s poems have won plaudits from leading poets and reviewers from across the world.
Reviews of WHEN GOD IS A TRAVELLER
When Poetry Defies Easy Full Stops – Tishani Doshi, The New Indian Express. A well-crafted collection of poems lays bare one’s fragility and vulnerability—Sachidananda Mohanty, The Hindu. A ‘cinnamon tongue’ moves beyond classical sounds–Lora Tomas, The Sunday Guardian. Does God wear shoes?— Sumana Roy, The Indian Express. Chiselled Poetry—K Satchidanandan, Frontline, The Hindu.
Review Excerpts about earlier books
‘…one of the finest poets writing in the country today….It is not dulcet music that you hear in Where I Live. It’s the swish of swordplay, each poem skewered at sabre-point and then placed on an electric grille to sizzle like a rasher on a barbecue…. We need to accept her as the conquistador of the poetry page.’ — Keki Daruwalla, The Hindu, February, 2010
‘…by turns both laconic and passionate, she asks questions about morality and integrity that many poets simply refuse to take on. Yet she is also an extraordinary love poet…This is a remarkable book, from a remarkable poet.’ — John Burnside, Poetry Review, Summer 2009.
‘…a strong personality and an individual voice; her poems feel as if they are meant to be read aloud as well as on the page…. Subramaniam is becoming a major poet.’ — Bruce King, Journal of Postcolonial Literature, 2010.
‘…a combination of sharp (at times even cutting) intelligence, uncompromising honesty, and probing subtlety…It just such writing that illuminates the fact that in our times the truly global perspective is offered by writers like Subramaniam, who have the privilege of knowing the philosophies and mythologies, the human and natural landscapes, the sounds, smells and tastes of both East and West.’ — Brenda Porster, Semicerchio, 2009
‘Few poets capture contradictory impulses so convincingly. This unexpected range is what makes Subramaniam’s work such a pleasure to read. You never know what country, mood, streetscape, or relationship you’ll be plunged into but the ferociously intelligent attention to detail ensures that you are given every opportunity to engage with the pure energy of the poem.’ Jules Mann, Poetry International Web.
The Sahitya Akademi’s list of includes seven books of poetry, four novels, five short stories, two plays, and one each of memoirs and epic poetry in 20 Indian languages.
The awards for Malayalam, Nepali, Odia and Rajasthani languages will be announced at a later date, the Akademi said in a statement.
Apart from Subramaniam, the others who won the award in poetry include Harish Meenakshi (Gujarati), Anamika (Hindi), RS Bhaskar (Konkani), Irungbam Deven (Manipuri), Rupchand Hansda (Santali), and Nikhileswar (Telugu).
Nanda Khare (Marathi), Maheshchandra Sharma Gautam (Sanskrit), Imaiyam (Tamil) and Sri Hussain-ul-Haque were named as winners for their novels.
Apurba Kumar Saikia (Assamese), (late) Dharanidhar Owari (Bodo), (late) Hiday Koul Bharti (Kashmiri), Kamakant Jha (Maithili) and Gurdev Singh Rupana (Punjab) have received the award for short stories.
The Akademi has named Gian Singh (Dogri) and Jetho Lalwani (Sindhi) the winners for their plays, while Shankar (Mani Shankar Mukhopadhyay) in (Bengali) received the award for memoir.
“The books were selected on the basis of recommendations made by a jury of three members in the concerned languages in accordance with the procedure laid down for the purpose.
“According to the procedure, the Executive Board declared the Awards on the basis of unanimous selections made by the jurors or selection made on the basis of majority vote. The awards relate to books first published during the five years immediately preceding the year of award (ie. between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2018),” the Akademi said.
The award, which will include a casket containing an engraved copper plaque, a shawl and an amount of Rs 1,00,000, will be presented at the award presentation function, which will be held at a later date.
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