Raipur | Correspondent : Veteran Hindi poet and storyteller Vinod Kumar Shukla has been selected for prestigious Jnanpith Award this year which is also India’s highest literary honor. The announcement was made today in New Delhi.

A Literary Icon from Chhattisgarh

Born on January 1, 1937, in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, Vinod Kumar Shukla currently resides in Raipur.

With a literary career spanning over 50 years, he is celebrated for his impactful poetry and thought-provoking prose. His first poetry collection, ‘Lagbhag Jaihind’, was published in 1971.

Celebrated Works

Shukla's novels, including ‘Naukar Ki Kameez’, ‘Khilega to Dekhenge’, and ‘Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi’, are regarded as some of the finest works in modern Hindi literature.

His short story collections, such as ‘Ped Par Kamra’ and ‘Mahavidyalaya’, have also been widely acclaimed.

His poetry collections—‘Lagbhag Jaihind’, ‘Vah aadmi chala gaya garam coat pehenkar vichar ki tarah’, ‘Sab kuch hona bacha rahega’, ‘Atirikt nahin’, ‘Kavita se lambi kavita’, ‘Akash dharti ko khatkhatata hai’, have earned him recognition on global platforms.

Shukla has also written for children, with works like ‘Hare rang ke rang ki patrangi’, ‘Kahin kho gaya naam ka ladka’ being particularly well-received by young readers. His books have been translated into multiple languages, expanding his reach to a global audience.

Accolades and Recognition

Over the years, Vinod Kumar Shukla has been honored with numerous awards, including the Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh Fellowship, Raza Award, Veer Singh Dev Award, Srujanbharati Award, Raghuveer Sahay Smriti Award, Dayawati Modi Kavi Shikhar Award, Bhawani Prasad Mishra Award, Maithilisharan Gupt Award, and Pt. Sundarlal Sharma Award.

In 1999, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel ‘Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi’. In recent years, he was also honored with the Matribhoomi Book of the Year Award.

Last year, PEN America bestowed him with the Nabokov Award for international literary excellence, making him the first Asian writer to receive this prestigious honor.

Notably, acclaimed filmmaker Mani Kaul adapted Shukla's novel ‘Naukar Ki Kameez’ into a film, further cementing the author’s influence in Indian literature and beyond.