Bengali writer Shirshendhu Mukyopadhyaya has been awarded the 2023 Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar. He has written more than 90 books, including travelogues and fiction for children.
The writer will receive a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a silver medal, and a citation. The selection committee for the national award, named in honour of the late Kannada poet Kuvempu, was chaired by BL Shankar (president of the Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Trust) and comprised Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharya, Geetha Vijayakumar, and Agrahara Krishnamurthy. The committee said that Mukyopadhyaya has brought “new sensibilities to his writings and enriched Indian literature through his works in the Bengali language.”
The Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar is a national annual literary award that recognises writers who have made significant contributions to any Indian language. Tamil writer Imayam was the previous year’s winner.
