Jerry Pinto, Nasira Sharma among Sahitya Akademi awardees

Noted English novelist Jerry Pinto and Hindi author Nasira Sharma were among the 24 authors named for the Sahitya Akademi Award 2016 here Wednesday.

They were cited for 'Em and the Big Hoom' and 'Paarijat' respectively.

Boluwaru Mohammad Kunhi was named for 'Swatantryada Ota' in Kannada, Edwin J.F.D Souza for 'Kale Bhangar' in Konkani and Gita Upadhyay for 'Janmabhumi Mero Swadesh' in Nepali.

Eight poets were also honoured: Jnan Pujari ('Meghmalar Bhraman'/Assamese), Anju ('Ang Maboroi Dong Dasong'/ Bodo), Kamal Vora ('Anekek'/Gujarati), Prabha Varma ('Shyamamadhavam'/Malayalam), Sitanath Acharya ('Kavyanirjhari'/Sanskrit), Gobinda Chandra Majhi ('Nalha'/Santhali), Nand Javeri ('Akhar Katha'/Sindhi) and Papineni Sivasankar ('Rajanigandha'/Telegu).

Seven writers were cited for short stories: Chahatrapal ('Cheta'/Dogri), Shyan Darihare ('Barki Kaki at Hotmail Dot Com'/Maithili), Moirangthem Rajen ('Cheptharaba Eshingpun'/Manipuri), Asaram Lomate ('Aalok'/Marathi, Paramita Satpathy ('Prapti'/Odia), Bulaki Sharma ('Murdjat Ar Dujee Kahaniyan'/Rajasthani) Vannadhasan 'Oru Siru Isai'/Tamil).

Aziz Hajini ('Aane Khane'/Kashmiri) and Nizam Siddiqui 'Mabad-e-Jadidiat Se Naye Ahed Ki Takhliqiyat Tak'/Urdu) were awarded for their books on criticism. Nrisinghaprasad Bhaduri has been honoured for his essay 'Mahabharater Astadashi' in Bengali and Swarajbir for his play 'Masia Di Raat' in Punjabi.

The awards comprising a casket containing an engraved copper plaque, as well as a shawl and a cheque of Rs.100,000 will be presented to the authors here on February 22, 2017.

--IANS

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