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Festival of Letters: Sahitya Akademi Awards 2022 Presented to 24 Indian Language Authors

Seven poetry collections, seven novels, two story collections, two literary analyses, three plays, and one autobiography were among the works recognized with honors.
on Mar 15, 2023

The Sahitya Akademi Award 2022 was presented to twenty-four writers from as many Indian languages as on Saturday at the start of the 39th "Festival of Writers" in Delhi.

English writer Anuradha Roy and Hindi novelist Badri Narayan were among those who got the renowned literary prize at a ceremony conducted at Kamani Auditorium on the first day of the Sahitya Akademi-organized literary festival.

Also, see Anuradha Roy among the 23 winners of the Sahitya Akademi Awards.

Although Mr. Narayan earned the accolade for his collection of poems titled Tumadi Ke Shabd, Ms. Roy was rewarded for her novel All the Lives We Never Lived in English.

Seven poetry collections, seven novels, two story collections, two literary analyses, three plays, and one autobiography were among the works recognized with honors.

Ajit Azad (Maithili), Maya Anil Kharangate (Konkani), Farooq Fayaz (Kashmiri), Tapan Bandyopadhyay (Bengali), Rashmi Choudhury (Bodo), Veena Gupta (Dogri), Gulammohammed Sheikh (Gujarati), Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy (Kannada), Manoj Kumar (Malayalam).

Manipuri author Koijam Shantibala Devi, K.B. Nepali (Nepali), Pravin Dashrath Bandekar (Marathi), Gayatribala Panda (Odia), Sukhjit (Punjabi), Janardan Prasad Pandey 'Mani' (Sanskrit), Kamal Ranga (Rajasthani), Jagannath Soren (Santali), Kanhaiyalal Lekhwani (Sindhi), M. Rajendran (Tamil), Madhuranthakam Narendra (Telugu), and Anis Ashfaq (Urdu) also received the prestigious award.

The winners got a shawl, an engraved copper plaque, and Rs. 1 lakh in cash.

Upamanyu Chatterjee, an English writer and the event's keynote guest congratulated the authors and stated that it was the responsibility of all authors to protect the Sahitya Akademi's plurality.

"Today, we are all participating in what must be the most remarkable literary felicitation celebration ever held anywhere in the globe. The Akademi has been honoring the greatest works released in the previous year in not one, not four, but 24 languages with patience, diligence, and as much impartiality as is possible under the circumstances, he added.

"It is an outstanding accomplishment by any standard. Nothing nearly similar occurs anywhere else in the world, I'm very certain. The author of English, August, remarked during the occasion, "I believe it is the job of each of us who are authors, who profess to be writers, that this cherished gem, this pluralism which is so rare, be not tarnished or lessened in any way.

The festival, which has as its theme "Indian Literature and Unity of Cultures," was launched by Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal, Sahitya Akademi President Madhav Kaushik, and Sahitya Akademi Secretary K. Sreenivasarao. An exhibition was also opened, providing a sneak peek at Akademi's upcoming activities in 2022.

The six-day festival is the "largest ever," with over 400 authors and academics from over 60 languages in 40 literary events like writers' meetings, literary readings, symposia, and cultural programs.

The most recent edition of the festival also includes an All India Poets' Meet focusing on the G20 theme—"One Earth One Family One Future," as well as panel discussions on education and creativity, diplomacy and literature, and literature and women's empowerment. These events include Purvottari, Tribal Writers' Meet, Yuva Sahiti, Spin-a-Tale, LGBTQ Writers' Meet, and a national seminar.

On March 16, the event will come to an end.

We are all taking part in what must be the most remarkable literary felicitation event ever held anywhere in the world today. Upamanyu Chatterjee is an English author.