AMN/ New Delhi
Eminent modern Bengali Poet Shankha Ghosh has been selected for Jnanpith Award for the year 2016. Born in 1932, Shankha Ghosh is a prolific poet, critic and academician and an authority on Tagore, whose poetic idiom and experiments with various poetic forms mark his greatness as a creative talent. His poems convey messages but are free from polemics.
Ghosh is a poet with an eye to the social milieu and his poems record both his time and space in a rare poetic style. Adim lata –gulmomay, Murkho Baro, Samajik Noy, Baborer Prarthana are some of his classic creations. Dinguli Raatguli and Nihita Patalchaya are among those creations which have inspired a whole generation of modern poetry due to their unique form and feeling. His poems have been translated into many Indian languages that include Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Punjabi and Malayalam. His works have been translated into many foreign languages as well.
He is lyrical and reflective in some of his creations where a sense of anguish towards the superficiality of our society and existence are portrayed. Recipient of many coveted awards that include Narsingh Das Puraskar, Sahitya Akademi Award, Saraswati Samman, Rabindra Puraskar, Desikottam Ghosh joins Bengali greats like Mahasveta Devi, Ashapurna Devi, Tarashankar, Bishnu Dey and Subhash Mukhopadhyay in receiving Jnanpith award.
The decision of selection was taken in a meeting of Jnanpith Selection Board chaired by noted scholar, writer and critic Prof. Namwar Singh. Other eminent persons of the selection board are Prof. Girishwar Misra, Prof. Shamim Hanfi, Prof. Harish Trivedi, Prof. Suranjan Das, Ramakant Rath, Chandrakant Patil, Prof. Alok Rai, C. Radhakrishnan, Madhusudan Anand and Leeladhar Mandloi.