Twenty four eminent authors writing in as many Indian languages were felicitated today by the Sahitya Akademi at its annual Festival of Letters.
The recipients were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each for their “outstanding books of literary merit”.
Urging authors from across the country to write extensively in various regional languages, Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari said that Indian writing faces a threat from the effect of colonial thinking.
“Indian literature is under threat. Colonial thinking has belittled our literature and languages and we have come to believe in that,” Mr Tiwari said at the award ceremony.
The awarded literary works have been written in 24 Indian languages, including English, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bodo, Kashmiri, Manipuri, Nepali among others.
