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:

YearNameNationality
2001Ganesh Narayandas Devy India
Shamsur Rahman Bangladesh
2002Laxmi Chand Gupta India
2006Maitreyi Pushpa India
Zahida Hina Pakistan
Laxman Gaikwad India
Tissa Abeysekara Sri Lanka
2007Mahasveta Devi India
2009Jayanta Mahapatra India
Uday Prakash India
Kamaal Khan India
2010Hamid Mir Pakistan
Abhi Subedi   Nepal
Mark Tully India
Ju Burma
2011Ibrahim Waheed Maldives
Syed Akhtar Hussain Akhtar (posthumous) Pakistan
2012Fakrul Alam Bangladesh
Ayesha Zee Khan Pakistan
2013Abhay K India
Suman Pokhrel   Nepal
Farheen Chaudhary Pakistan
Abdul Khaliq Rashid Afghanistan
Daya Dissanayake Sri Lanka
2014Tarannum Riyaz India
2015Sitakant Mahapatra India
Selina Hossain Bangladesh
Suman Pokhrel   Nepal
Shahida Shaheen Pakistan
Nisar Ahmad Chaudhary Pakistan
Aryan Aroon Afghanistan
2018Najibullah Manalai Afghanistan
2019Anisuzzaman 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.


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