Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr and Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo get Jnanpith Award

Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr and Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo have won the 56th and 57th Jnanpith Award, respectively

Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr and Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo have won the 56th and 57th Jnanpith Award, respectively.

The annual Jnanpith by the Bhartiya Jnanpith is bestowed on writers for 'their outstanding contribution towards literature'. It is given to authors who write in any Indian languages listed in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution and English.

Who is poet Nilmani Phookan Jr?

Poet Nilmani Phookan Jr is the third Assamese writer to be bestowed by India’s highest literary award after Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya and Mamoni Raisom Goswami.

"Phukan has equally enhanced the intellectual field of Assam with equal etymology and expertise in all aspects of teaching, poetry, art and criticism. Congratulations to poet Phukandev. I wish him good health and long life," tweeted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The poet was born in Deragaon in the Golaghat district. He did his Masters from the Gauhati University and taught at Arya Vidyapeeth College in Gauhati till 1992.

Phookan’s poetry draws influence from French symbolism and is indicative of the genres in Assamese poetry. Surya Henu Nami Ahe Ei Nodiyedi, Gulapi Jamur Lagna, and Kobita are some of his best-known pieces.

Phookan also translated several Japanese and European poems into Assamese. He received the Assam Valley Literary Award in 1997 and was granted the Sahitya Akademi Scholarship. He is an Assamese critic with an eye on folklore and folk art.

Phookan received the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for Kavita (Kobita), a collection of poems. In 1990, the Government of India awarded Padma Shri to him. Dibrugarh University gave him a D.Lit. in 2019.

What is Damodar Mauzo’s known for?

Damodar Mauzo is from Goa’s Majorda. He is famous for his works like Karmelin and Tsunami. The author has also written short stories like Teresa’s Man.

His novels are translated into various other languages. He is the second Konkani writer to win the award after Ravindra Kelekar in 2006.

Karmelin, which narrated a tale about the life of domestic workers in the Middle East, was translated into 12 languages. In 1983, he had also won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Karmelin. He won Vimala V. Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Puraskar in 2011 for Tsunami.

The activist Mauzo contributed to the inclusion of Konkani as a language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. He co-founded Goa Arts and Literature Festival. In the 1980s, he was an active participant in a movement, called Konkani Porjecho Avaz, to include the Konkani language in the Constitution.

Mauzo said that Jnanpith Award would further cement the Konkani language on the Indian map. The colonisers were intolerant towards the native language, and thus it was a dark period for Konkani.

He is also known to be a fiery critic of right-wing Hindutva groups. In 2018, his life was under threat. His name was featured on the hit-list of a right-wing organisation that allegedly conspired to kill journalist Gauri Lankesh.

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