THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Well-known Hindi poet and novelist Vinod Kumar Shukla won the inaugural Mathrubhumi Book of the Year Award for his Blue is like Blue.
The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 500,000, a memento sculpted by well-known artist Riyas Komu and a citation, has been decided by a three-member jury comprising Dr Shashi Tharoor, Chandrasekhara Kambar and Dr Sumana Roy.
Shukla lives in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. In 1999, Shukla received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi. Renowned for bringing the marvellous to the ordinary, Shukla has long been recognised as one of India’s foremost writers, with a voice uniquely his own. The stories in Blue Is Like Blue deal with ‘smaller-than-life people’.
“His indifference to literary trends and fashion, reflected both in his writing and the life he has chosen for himself—his writing is at odds with the high-pitched idiom that seems to have become the most accepted tone of the literature—reiterates the vocation of the artist,” says Dr Roy.
The award will be presented by Booker Prize Jury Chair Margaret Busby on Jan 31 at 5pm at Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters at Kanankakkunnu, Thiruvananthapuram.
“The Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award is a commitment from Mathrubhumi to honour the best in Indian literature. We are inspired to honour and celebrate brilliant works, and encourage publishers to look for the best writing by Indian authors,” said M V Shreyams Kumar, Joint Managing Director, Mathrubhumi.
