Lal Sukla, Amar Kant selected for 45th and Chandrashekhara Kambara, Sri for the 46th Jnanpith Awards

December 7, 2011

Eminent Hindi authors Amar Kant and Shrilal Shukla was chosen for India’s highest literary honour Jnanpith Award for 2009, while renowned Kannada litterateur Chandrasekhar Kambar won it for 2010.

The selection board – chaired by noted writer and Jnanpith award winner Dr Sitakant Mahapatra – made the selections for the 45^th and 46^th Jnanpith awards.

Amar Kant (b. 1925) is a noted writer of Hindi literature. His novel Inhin Hathiyaron Se earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2007. Octogenarian Amar Kant is fighting against penury Works: Sukha Patta, Kale-Ujale, Bich Ki Diwar, Desh Ke Log
Shrilal Shukla (born December 31, 1925, Uttar Pradesh) is a Hindi writer, notable for his satire. He worked as a Provincial Civil Services (PCS) officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh, later inducted into the IAS. He has written over 25 books,including Makaan, Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj, Pehla Padaav and Bisrampur Ka Sant.
Chandrashekhara Kambara (born January 2, 1937) is a prominent poet, playwright, folklorist, film director in Kannada language and the founder-vice-chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi.He is known for his effective usage of North Karnataka dialect of Kannada language in his plays and poems and is often compared with D.R. Bendre. Dr. Kambara’s plays mainly revolves around folk or mythology interlinked with contemporary issues,inculcating modern lifestyle with his hard-hitting poems and has became a pioneer of such literature.His contribution as a playwright is significant not only to Kannada theatre but also to the Indian theatre in general as he achieved a blend of the folk and the modern theatrical forms. He has been conferred with many prestigious awards including the Jnanpith Award in 2011 for the year 2010, Sahitya Akademi Award, the Padma Shri by Government of India, Kabir Samman, Kalidas Samman and Pampa Award. He was also nominated as a Member of Legislative Council representing the Indian National Congress.

Jnanpith Award

The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country.It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the The Times of India newspaper.

The name of the award is taken from Sanskrit words gnyāna and pitha (knowledge-seat). It carries a check for 7 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Indian goddess of knowledge, music, and the arts.

The award was instituted in 1961, and its first recipient, in 1965, was the Malayalam writer G. Sankara Kurup. Any Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour.