“I am extremely happy and given the attention this award has brought, I really feel like an important person. I know it’s a momentary phase but there is no denying the fact that it is an extremely happy moment for me,” said a modest and humble Shakuntala Baliarsingh, after being conferred the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi for her Odia translation of Tamil novel ‘Oru Kaberiyai Pola’ by Tripurasundari Lakshmi.
Eminent litterateur Baliarsingh’s translated version – ‘Kaberi Bhali Jhia Tia,’ among 23 other books, has been chosen by the Executive Board of the akademi for the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize 2015.
Baliarsingh is one of the noted personalities of Odia literature, who has left her mark as a story writer and novelist. Agyanta Basara Eti Katha, Kalankita Jyotsna, and Swayangsidha are some of her acclaimed novels.
A total of 23 authors have won the Sahitya Akademi's Translation Prize for 2015, the akademi sources said.
The names of the winners were approved at a meeting of the Executive Board of the Akademi chaired by its President Vishwanath Prasad.
"The books were selected on the basis of recommendations from the Selection Committees of three members each in the various languages," the Akademi said.
Among the winners of the Translation Prize-2015 are Suresh Talukdar (Assamese), Mau Das Gupta (Bengali), Dhansri Swargiary (Bodo), Chhatarpal (Dogri), Susheela Punitha (English), Sharifa Vijliwala (Gujarati), Damodar Khadse (Hindi), N Damodara Shetty (Kannada), Rattan Lal Shant (Kashmiri), Jaymala Danayat (Konkani), Devendra Jha (Maithili) and KC Ajaykumar (Malayalam).
Also named for the honour were Naorem Khagendra (Manipuri), Shankar Pradhan (Nepali), Shakuntala Baliarsingh (Odia), Balbir Parwana (Punjabi), Madan Saini (Rajasthani), Tarashankar Sharma 'Pandeya' (Sanskrit), Tala Tudu (Santhali), Sarita Sharma (Sindhi), Gowri Kirubanandan (Tamil), LR Swamy (Telugu) and Suhail Ahmad Farooqi (Urdu).
The award comes with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a copper plaque. The prizes will be handed out at a function later this year.
The winner of the award for Marathi will be decided later, the Akademi said, adding that the majority of the books which have won this year are novels.