Assamese poet Nilim Kumar was been chosen for the 2025 Viswambhara Dr C Narayana Reddy National Literary Award, instituted in memory of Reddy, a poet and Jnanpith laureate, in recognition of his contributions to Indian literature.
The award ceremony will take place on Reddy’s 94th birth anniversary on July 29. Kumar will receive a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, a commemorative memento, and a citation.
With a literary career spanning several decades, Kumar has published 24 volumes of poetry and is celebrated as one of the leading voices in modern Assamese literature. He has previously received the Kusumagraj National Award, Udayabharati National Award, among others. His poetry has been translated into numerous Indian and international languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Telugu, English, Spanish, German, and French.
Dr Cingireddy Narayana Reddy, fondly known as Ci Na Re, to honour whom the award is given, is a towering figure in Telugu literature. He was given the Jnanpith Award in 1988 for his literary epic Viswambhara.
The previous recipients of the award are:
2021: Chandrasekhara Kambara for Kannada literature
2022: Pratibha Ray for Odia Literature
2023: Javed Akhtar for Urdu Literature
2024: Sivasankari for Tamil Literature
