Eminent Hindi authors Amar Kant and Shrilal Shukla were on Monday chosen for India’s highest literary honour Jnanpith Award for the year 2009 while renowned Kannada litterateur Chandrasekhar Kambar won it for the year 2010.
The selection board chaired by noted writer and Jnanpith award winner Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra made the selections for the 45th and 46th Jnanpith awards.
86-year-old Kant is a leading author whose famous novel Inhin Hathiyaron Se earned him Sahitya Akademi Award in 2007.
His short stories like Hatiyare , Dopahar ka Bhojan and Diptee Kalaktari have found place in the syllabi of several Indian Universities.
Shukla, born in 1925 in Uttar Pradesh, is an eminent novelist and a satirist whose works threw light on the falling moral values of the Indian society in the post-independence era.
His noted works include Raag Darbari , Makaan , Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj , Pehla Padaav , Agyatvas , and Bisrampur Ka Sant . He is winner of several awards which included Sahitya Akademi Award and Vyas Sammaan. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Indian literature and culture.
74-year-old Kambar, who won the Jnanpith for the year 2010, is a novelist and playwright.
His noted works include Takararinavaru , Saavirada Neralu , Chakori (poetries); Jokumaraswamy , Chalesha , Jaisidanayaka , Harakeya Kuri (plays), Karimaayi , and Singarevva mattu Aramane (novels and stories). He is also a recipient of the Sangeet Nataka Academy Award and Sahitya Academy Award.
