Mihir Vatsa, a 22-year old post-graduate student of English in Delhi University, emerged as the winner of the 5th Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize. The prize is jointly administered by the Srinivas Rayaprol Literary Trust and Department of English, University of Hyderabad.
Mihir Kumar Jha, whose nom de plume is Mihir Vatsa, is a poet from Jharkhand. His poems have appeared and are forthcoming in The Island Review, Eclectica Magazine, Contemporary Literary Review - India, The Four Quarters Magazine, and UCity Review among others. In 2010 he started the website, Tales of Hazaribagh, to archive the places of natural and cultural significance in response to the ecological threats from open-cast mining and industrial projects. He works with a Delhi-based NGO, Green Brigade, and currently serves as the poetry editor for VAYAVYA, an online magazine.
The Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize was instituted by Srinivas Rayaprol Literary Trust to recognize excellence in English poetry and is jointly administered by the Department of English, University of Hyderabad. A jury consisting of poet Manohar Shetty and English scholars Prof. Narayan Chandran and Dr. Sindhu Menon, arrived at a decision after going through entries of 150 poets in the age group of 20-40 years.
The award, consisting of a citation and cash prize of `10,000 will be presented at an event to be organised soon in Hyderabad.