NEW DELHI: India's national academy of letters, the Sahitya Akademi, has mourned the death of Nobel Prize-winning writer VS Naipaul, saying that "his works will stay alive forever" and that the late writer of "A House for Mr Biswas" will continue to "inspire writers" in the times to come too.
In a statement issued, Akademi Secretary K Sreenivasarao said that the Akademi "deeply mourns the sudden departure of Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul" and described him as a "distinguished writer".
"Sir Naipaul explored colonialism through different perspectives and represented in more than one sense displacement.
"Sir V.S. Naipaul may have departed from the mortal world but his works will stay alive forever. It is not very often that we get to see the writer of the calliber of Sir V.S. Naipaul and it was indeed Akademi's privilege to have conferred fellowship on Sir V.S. Naipaul," Sreenivasarao said.
He said that Naipaul inspired two generations of writers and will continue to inspire writers in all languages in the times to come too.
Naipaul, a recipient of several prestigious honours, including the Nobel Prize and the Booker Prize, passed away on Saturday in London.