Jnanpith Selection Board on 23rd Dec 2016 conferred the 52nd Jnanpith Award on modern Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh.
Board chaired by scholar and writer Prof. Namwar Singh announced this.The award returned to Bengal after a gap of 20 years.
Before Ghosh, Bengali fiction writer and social activities Mahasweta Devi won the award in 1996.
Born in 1932, Shankha Ghosh is a prolific poet, critic and academician.
He is an authority on Tagore, whose poetic idiom and experiments with various poetic forms mark his greatness as a creative talent. His poems do not have polemics.
Murkho Baro, Samajik Noy and Baborer Prarthana are some of his classic creations while Dinguli Raatguli and Nihita Patalchaya are among those creations which have inspired modern poetry.
Poems have been translated into many Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese and Malayalam.
He has translated his work into foreign languages as well.
He was a recipient of many awards including Narsingh Das Puraskar, Sahitya Akademi Award and Saraswati Samman.
Know About Jnanpith Award- One of the most prestigious awards in literature.
- Sanskrit words Jnan Pith means seat of knowledge.
- Award was set up by the Bharatiya Jnanpith Trust in 1961.
- Award was given to Indian citizens who write in one of 22 languages mentioned in Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution.
- The 51st Jnanpith Award was conferred on renowned Gujarati writer Dr Raghuveer Chaudhari.
