Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhyay passes away

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Prolific Bengali writer and Sahitya Akademi president Sunil Gangopadhyay passed away on Tuesday morning in his Kolkata residence. He was 78-years-old.

He was unwell for the last couple of days and breathed his last in the wee hours of Navami morning bringing an era of Bengali literature to an end.

According to initial reports by Star Ananda, he had been unwell since yesterday but his condition but not critical enough to be hospitalised. He suffered a heart attack at around 2.50 in the morning.

Sunil Gangopadhyay. Wikimedia Commons Image

With his death, a lot of the Kolkata literati descended on his house. His body has been kept in the mortuary Peace Haven today. He will possibly be cremated tomorrow, after his son arrives from Boston to perform the last rites.

A prolific writer and winner of several awards, Gangopadhyay was the founder editor of Krittibas, a seminal poetry magazine that became a platform for a new generation of poets experimenting with many new forms.