GUWAHATI, April 18 - Rastrakavi Kuvempu Pratisthana, a Karnataka-based literary organisation, will present its prestigious �Kuvempu National Award� to two eminent Assamese writers, Nilamoni Phookan and Homen Borgohain at a function to be held in the Gauhati Town Club auditorium here at 5 pm on April 21.
The award comprises a silver medal, felicitation items and a cash purse of Rs 2.5 lakh each.
The local collaborator of the award presentation function is The North East Foundation, a Guwahati-based public charitable trust dedicated to promotion of Assamese language, literature and culture.
Kadidal Prakash, secretary, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Prathisthana and Chandan Sarmah, coordinator, The North East Foundation, in a press release said that the function would be chaired by Prof Ham Pa Nagarajaiah, chairman, National Kuvempu Pratishthana. Three writers, Agrahara Krishnamurthy (Kannada), Maher Mansour (Urdu) and Shyamal Bhattacharyya (Bengali), will be present on the occasion as guests of honour.
Assamese writer Dr Dhruba Jyoti Borah would be the chief guest of the function, the release added.
The Government of Karnataka had founded the Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Pratishthana Trust (R) at Kuppali, in fond memory of Rashtrakavi Kuvempu (1904-1994), a household name in Karnataka, who was the greatest writer of 20th century in Kannada literature. As a poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and critic, he was adorned with many prestigious awards including Padmavibhushan, Jnanpeeth, Rashtrakavi (Poet Laureate), and honorary doctorate from a number of universities.
Till date, the award has been conferred on Sriyuths Sachidanandan (Malayalam, 2013), Prof Namavar Singh (Hindi, 2014), Prof Sham Manohar (Marathi, 2015) and Devanuru Mahadeva (Kannada, 2016).
