Well-known Kannada writer K.V. Tirumalesh has been selected for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for 2015. Prof. Tirumalesh’s poetry collection Akshaya Kavya , published in 2010, is among the six books identified for the award.
According to a release from the akademi, the award carries a copper plaque, a shawl and a cheque for Rs. 1 lakh. It will be presented in New Delhi on February 16, 2016.
Prof. Tirumalesh, who retired as professor from the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, has written on a variety of themes, ranging from history, mathematics, psychology, philosophy, and science, besides literature and translations. He has over 20 publications to his credit, including Avadha, Papiyu , Vathara, and Mukhavadagalu .
Prof. Tirumalesh told The Hindu on Thursday that the award had come to him at a “sandhi kaala ” (critical juncture) and it was an “embarrassment” to receive it. He was referring to several writers returning their awards in protest against increasing “intolerance” in the country.
He, however, said, “But the award is being given for the work, not for the writer. I don’t attach much importance to awards. I am engaged in various kinds of activities related to the world of words. The award might create interest among the lovers of poetry at a time when their number is dwindling by the day.”
Refusing to brand the work as a collection of poetry, Prof. Tirumalesh described Akshaya Kavya as “epic fragment”. He started writing poems without a title and compiled them into a single volume. “I would like to call it an epic poem. There is of course no hero, no war, and no big enterprise. But it has the mass. Poems in this 400-page volume were written in a span of 10 years,” he said.
The award is being given for the work, not to the writer.
K.V. Tirumalesh
