Vinod Kumar Shukla
Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Bolta Kagaz
New Delhi: Eminent Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship on Friday.
The highest honour of the Akademi was announced in September 2021 but could not be presented to Shukla due to his health issues.
A brief ceremony was held at Shukla's home in Raipur which was attended by Sahitya Akademi president Madhav Kaushik and secretary K Sreenivasarao.
"I'm thankful to Sahitya Akademi for making it to my place to give me this honour. I never expected to receive such a great honour. I'm very happy to find myself among the distinguished writers who have received Sahitya Akademi Fellowship so far," Shukla said in a statement.
Born on January 1, 1937, in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, Shukla began his creative journey with the poetry collection "Lagbhag Jai Hind".
Shukla is known for creating a completely new aesthetic sense of poetry and prose through his works such as Woh Admi Chala Gaya Naya Garam Coat Pahankar Vichar Ki Tarah, Sab Kuchh Hona Bacha Rahega, Kavita Se Lambi Kavita and Akash Dharati Ko Khatkhatata Hai.
Some of his noted novels include "Naukar Ki Kameez", "Khilega To Dekhenge" and "Diwar Mein Ek Khidki Rahati Thi".
"This is a rare opportunity to feel proud because it is the Akademi that is being honoured in honouring Vinod Kumar Shukla. Shukla's writings are so comprehensive and excellent that future generations will always be inspired by it," Kaushik said.
With 20 published books, including poetry collections, novels and short stories, to his credit, Shukla is a member of the General Council of Sahitya Akademi.
He is also the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, Shikhar Samman of the Madhya Pradesh Government, Hindi Gaurav Samman, Raja Puraskar and the Rashtriya Maithilisharan Gupta Samman among others.