Late Dharanidhar Owari (L), Apurba Kumar Saikia
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, March 12: Six writers from Assam have been selected for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Awards, 2020 for their contribution in the field of literature.
Writer Apurba Kumar Saikia and late Dharanidhar Owari have been selected for the Sahitya Akademi Award, 2020 in the short stories category.
Saikia was chosen for his book Bengsata written in Assamese, the jury for which included Harekrishna Deka, Pradip Acharya and Nitya Bora.
Late Owari was chosen for the award for his book Gwthenay Lamayao Gwdan Agan penned in Bodo language.
Another promising Assamese writer Dwijen Das made the cut for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, 2020 in the poetry section for his book Megh-Ghora, the jury for which included Partha Pratim Hazarika, assistant editor of The Assam Tribune, Dr Pranjit Bora and Manikuntala Bhattacharya.
Bodo writer Newton K Basumatary was also selected for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, 2020 for his work Abwi-Abou Arw Ang.
The Bal Sahitya Puraskar, 2020 has gone to Madhurima Gharphalia for her short story book Phosong, while another writer from Assam, Ajit Boro, has been selected for the Bal Sahitya Puraskar, 2020 in the essays category (Gothosa Bisombi).
The awards recommended by the jury members in 20 Indian languages were approved by the Sahitya Akademi Executive Board which met on Friday under the chairmanship of Akademi president Dr Chandarshekhar Kambar.
