Bhubaneswar: Three litterateurs from Odisha have been selected for the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi Award 2021.
Poet Hrushikesh Mallick will receive the award for his book ‘Sarijaithiba Opera’.
The two others who have been honoured are Digaraj Brahma and Debabrata Das.
While Brahma will be awarded with the Bal Sahitya Puraskar (Odia) for his book ‘Geeta Kahe Matir Katha’, Das will be honoured with the Yuva Puraskar 2021 (Odia) for his book ‘Sparsha O Anya Galpa’, respectively.
Recently, Mallick was appointed as the president of Odisha Sahitya Akademi. He has been editing the literary supplement Sahityayana of Dharitri since 2014. Mallick’s works have earned him accolades and appreciation from all quarters.
Mallick is a trendsetter in Odia poetry writing. He has 40 books to his credit. Of those, while 12 books are on poetry, two are story collections and 10 are on literary criticism. His poems have been translated into English, Hindi and Bengali languages.
Mallick has been honoured with several state-level awards like Odisha Sahitya Akademi Puraskar, Dharitri Kabita Puraskar, Bhanujirao Rao Smruti Puraskar, Sarala Award, Jhankar Bishuba Puraskar and Sachi Routrya Kabita Puraskar.
Between 1976 to 1980, Mallick was editorial in charge of the Sunday supplement of Odia daily Dharitri.
PNN
