Published Jan 13, 2023 | 8:47 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 13, 2023 | 8:47 PM
K Satchidanandan. (writersatchidannadan/Facebook)
“The award is a recognition of my work in integrating the culture and literature of different states and languages of the country,” pioneering modern Indian poet, critic and translator K Satchidanandan told South First after being selected to receive the eighth Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Poetry Award.
Satchidanandan was at the annual Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhokode, Kerala, when news of the award broke. At the festival, he held a conversation with the poet HS Shivaprakash in a session titled ‘In Other Words’.
The award will be presented to him at the 16th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) to be held from 19 to 23 January.
Satchidanandan has authored 21 collections of poetry, 16 books of translations of world poetry and 21 works of literary criticism in Malayalam and English besides plays and travelogues.
The English and Malayalam poet has also received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for poetry, drama, translation and travelogue, as well as the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book of poetry, “Marannuvecha Vasthukkal” in 2012.
Representative collections of his poetry have appeared in eighteen languages and in several countries across the world.
Talking about the Satchidanandan — a former secretary of the Sahitya Akademi who was born in the Thrissur district of Kerala in 1946 — jury member and poet Ranjit Hoskote said that he “has made key contributions to modern Indian literature”.
“The award recognises his magisterial oeuvre as a poet active both in Malayalam and English and as a translator of refined sensibility. In his various roles as a poet, critic, editor and cultural administrator, Satchidanandan has made key contributions to modern Indian literature,” Hoskote said.
The cover of Marannu Vecha Vasthukal. (Official website/dcbookstore.com)
He added that with his “deep and wide interests in the other arts and in the humanities”, Satchidananda is a contributor both to the literary world and to “India’s evolving and dynamic culture at large”.
Presented in association with the Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Foundation, the award is given to “a poet of repute” as a tribute to the Rajasthani-Hindi poet. In addition to a cash prize of ₹1 lakh, the winner receives a memento of appreciation along with a felicitation at JLF.
“K Satchidanandan is one of those luminous beings who can peep into the heart of things and strike a poetic dialogue with the mutest of all. His control of diction is that of a pianist on the keyboard, he can play on all kinds of silences with elegance and grace,” poet-novelist and jury member Anamika said.
The other jury members for the award included writer and JLF director Namita Gokhale, managing director at Teamwork Arts, producer of JLF, Sanjoy K Roy, and Siddharth Sethia of Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Foundation.
The award has been presented to Hindi poet Rituraj (2016), Odia-English poet Jayanta Mahapatra (2017), Tamil author and poet Rajathi Salma (2018), and Punjabi poet Surjit Patar (2019).
The award in 2020 was given to the English poet and literary critic Arvind Krishna Mehrotra for his contribution to the world of poetry.
Poet and novelist Anamika received the award in 2021 and poet-translator Ranjit Hoskote was accorded the honour in 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
