SAARC Literary Award
The SAARC Literary Award is an annual award conferred by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to writers from its member states. It aims to promote creativity and literature in the South Asian region.
History
The Award was instituted in 2001 at the 11th SAARC Summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal. The proposal to launch such an award was initially made by India to promote South Asian writers and literature. The award carries a plaque, citation and a cash prize of $5,000 USD.
Award Categories
The SAARC Literary Award is conferred in three categories:
- Poetry
- Fiction
- Creative Non-Fiction/Essays
The nomination for the award is made by member states in alphabetical order. The recipient in each category is selected every year by a designated jury of literary experts appointed by the SAARC Secretariat.
Recipients
Over the years, SAARC Literary Award recipients have included eminent personalities as follows:
Year | Name | Nationality |
2001 | Ganesh Narayandas Devy | India |
Shamsur Rahman | Bangladesh | |
2002 | Laxmi Chand Gupta | India |
2006 | Maitreyi Pushpa | India |
Zahida Hina | Pakistan | |
Laxman Gaikwad | India | |
Tissa Abeysekara | Sri Lanka | |
2007 | Mahasveta Devi | India |
2009 | Jayanta Mahapatra | India |
Uday Prakash | India | |
Kamaal Khan | India | |
2010 | Hamid Mir | Pakistan |
Abhi Subedi | Nepal | |
Mark Tully | India | |
Ju | Burma | |
2011 | Ibrahim Waheed | Maldives |
Syed Akhtar Hussain Akhtar (posthumous) | Pakistan | |
2012 | Fakrul Alam | Bangladesh |
Ayesha Zee Khan | Pakistan | |
2013 | Abhay K | India |
Suman Pokhrel | Nepal | |
Farheen Chaudhary | Pakistan | |
Abdul Khaliq Rashid | Afghanistan | |
Daya Dissanayake | Sri Lanka | |
2014 | Tarannum Riyaz | India |
2015 | Sitakant Mahapatra | India |
Selina Hossain | Bangladesh | |
Suman Pokhrel | Nepal | |
Shahida Shaheen | Pakistan | |
Nisar Ahmad Chaudhary | Pakistan | |
Aryan Aroon | Afghanistan | |
2018 | Najibullah Manalai | Afghanistan |
2019 | Anisuzzaman | Bangladesh |
The SAARC Literary Award highlights the shared civilizational heritage of South Asian countries and builds closer ties through the threads of literature and language. As such, it remains an important instrument in advancing SAARC’s objectives at the people-to-people level.