BHUBANESWAR: Odia litterateur Rabindra Kumar Praharaj has been selected for the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for translation for 2014.
Praharaj will receive the award for his book ‘Thila Gharara Gelhapua’, a translation of classic Bengali novel ‘Alaler Gharer Dulal’ written by acclaimed Bengali writer Tekchand Thakur and published in 1857. Praharaj has so far published 36 books. Out of those, 14 books are translated from other languages to Odia.
This was announced by the executive board of Kendra Sahitya Akademi on Monday. The board approved selection of 23 books for the translation prize while the award in Santali language category would be announced later.
‘Thila Gharara Gelhapua’ was selected on the basis of recommendations made by the three-member selection committee from Odisha that was appointed by the Akademi. The committee members were Bibhuti Pattnaik, Giribala Mohanty and Kalidas Mishra.
The prize carries an amount of Rs 50,000 and a copper plaque which will be presented to Praharaj at a special function to be held later this year.
The award in the same category for 2013 was bagged by Bilasini Mohanty for ‘Anabruta Andhakar: Saadat Hasan Manton Ka Ardhasata Kahani’, which was a translation of Sadat Hassan Manto’s collection of short stories.
Meanwhile, poet Gopal Krushna Rath was accorded the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for 2014 at the Festival of Letters - the annual function of the Akademi - on Monday. Rath had been chosen for the award for his anthology of poems ‘Bipula Diganta’.
