Two from Odisha receive Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s noted writers Tarun Kanti Mishra and Kali Charan Hembram were conferred with the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 2019 in Odia and Santali category, respectively at a function held in New Delhi last evening.

Mishra was selected for the award for ‘Bhaswati’, a collection of 14 short stories in Odia penned by him while Hembram got the prize for Sisirjali, a short stories book. The awards in the form of an engraved copper plaque, a shawl and Rs 1,00,000 were presented to Mishra and Hembram during the Festival of Letters organized by the Sahitya Akademi.

‘Bhaswati’ is a collection of 14 short stories in Odia meandering through varied themes ranging from love, hope, dream, despair, death to salvation. The short stories are unique not only for their intensity and poetic style, but also for their surreal and mystic content. The short stories are characterized by a mobility of style, deep human empathy and grace. The author has successfully portrayed his characters and the world they live in, and ably made each of the short stories a complete world in itself.

Similarly, ‘Sisirjali’ is a collection of short stories portraying the social, cultural and religious life of Santals belonging to different social strata in a simple, lively language, and an innovative narrative technique. The short stories are rich in dealing with several contemporary themes ranging from the life of Santals living in remote villages to the devastatingly severe issues of poverty and Naxalism to disturbing socio-cultural upheaval caused by globalization, and in calling for the timeless efficacy of love and wisdom.

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