New Delhi: “It always feels great to be recognised with awards and felicitations. But for a writer, these are only momentary pleasure. I would feel more privileged if a reader appreciates my work," eminent Odia short story writer and former Chief Secretary of Odisha Tarun Kanti Mishra said after being conferred with the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award 2019.
Mishra was felicitated with the highest literary award during a function at New Delhi on Tuesday for his stellar short story work ‘Bhaswati’.
On 18 December, 2019, Sahitya Akademi shared a press release announcing its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages. Tarun Kanti was one of the winners in the list who was recognised for his short story work in Odia language.
His book was selected on the basis of recommendations made by a jury of three members in Odia language that constituted of Dr.Malabika Ray, Dr.Phani Mohanty and Dr.Prafulla Kumar Mohanty in accordance with the procedure laid down for the purpose. According to the procedure, the executive board declared the awards on the basis of unanimous selections made by the jurors or selection based on the basis of majority vote.
The award in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper plaque, a shawl and an amount of Rs 1 Lakh was presented to him at the function ‘Festival Of Letters’ organised by the Sahitya Akademi under the Chairmanship of Dr. Chandrasekhar Kambar, that saw noted poet and lyricist Gulzar attending as the Chief Guest.
So far, Mishra has authored 250 short stories and 20 books. On his journey to success, Mishra says he began writing when he was in school and published his first story for a school magazine when he was in Class-VII. Mishra joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1975 and became the Chief Secretary of Odisha in 2009.
A total of six books of short stories were awarded including a book in Santali language by Kali Charan Hembram from Odisha. Hembram was awarded the prestigious award for his book named ‘Sisirjali’ by a three member jury comprised of Arjun Charan Hembram, Bhujanga Tudu and Gangadhar Hansda.
Speaking to OTV, Hembram said, “I am definitely satisfied with this award. But I am actually happy for my community and for my state which is Odisha.”
Senior Congress MP and writer Shashi Tharoor was also honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book in English, An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India which was published in 2016.