Bhubaneswar, 28 Jan. 2019: Three eminent litterateurs from Odisha on Monday received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Bhasha Samman for the year 2017 and 2018.
The three writers—Professor Gaganendra Nath Dash, Dr Prafulla Kumar Tripathy and poet Haladhar Nag—received the award at a special function organised at Rabindra Bhavan Lawns in New Delhi.
While Dash conferred the award for Odia language for the year 2018, Tripathy and Nag jointly received the award for Koshali-Sambalpuri language for 2017. As Dash could not attend the function due to illness, his son Tapan Kumar Dash received the award on his behalf.
Each Bhasha Samman carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, an inscribed copper plaque and citation.
Notably, Sahitya Akademi is organizing the ‘Festival of Letters’ from 28th January to 2nd February. About 200 representatives from different states will participate in the event.
Well-known educationist and literary critic Prof Dasarathi Das will be conferred the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award 2018 tomorrow.
Prasanta Patnaik