Vinod Kumar Shukla conferred with Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
Raipur | Correspondent: Renowned Hindi Writer Vinod Kumar Shukla, a Chhattisgarh resident was conferred with Sahitya Akademi Fellowship.
This prestigious award is the most significant recognition bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi in India.
The ceremony was briefly held at Shukla’s residence at Raipur on Friday evening.
During the ceremony, Sahitya Akademi Secretary K. Srinivas Rao delivered a tribute to Shukla, highlighting his unique blend of poetry and fiction.
Rao remarked that Vinod Kumar Shukla’s writings provide a rich insight into ways in which the local and the universal are vibrantly interconnected. Across the world, tribal communities are being deprived of their right to land, water and forests. As such, Sri Vinod Kumar Shukla’s poems, deeply rooted in the local, achieve a resonant universality.
He said-“The poetry and fiction of Vinod Kumar Shukla bear the luminous imprint of his originality. Any mannerisms or stylised expressions found in his writings sharply individualise them and vividly define Vinod Kumar Shukla’s rare qualities as a writer. His intense engagement with the language is more significant than his ability to play with words. His gift for making a word, a sentence or an idea reveals multiple facets of life which lends his writings a vibrant profundity. It would be wrong to criticise him for being committed to the principle of art for art’s sake, because he simply adheres to the basic principle underlying all great art.”
Rao further emphasized that Vinod Kumar Shukla firmly espouses the belief that the birth of any human being carries more significance than the birth of a poem. It is true that poems enrich the greatness of human beings. In his works, we come across refreshingly new images and new ways of creating them which tell us about the ways in which human existence is overwhelmed by the forces of the market. His poetry conveys an eloquent silence which presents a challenge to other poets. Vinod Kumar Shukla’s poetry is imbued with a deep angst and restlessness which lies at the root of all great literature. The language in which he expresses his thoughts and feelings is distinguished by an immaculate naturalness.
He also noted that “Like Gautam Buddha, he is immersed in spirituality and yet full of compassion of ordinary human beings. For him, who seeks to convey the vision of the vast universe through his poetry and fiction, writing comes as naturally as breathing. For this reason, reading the collected works of Sri Vinod Kumar Shukla feels like a sacred endeavour which the readers require to purify them.”
Vinod Kumar Shukla: A Unique Literary Voice
Vinod Kumar Shukla born on January 1, 1937, in Rajnandgaon has been writing for the past 50 years.
His first-ever poetry collection ‘Lagbhag Jaihind’ was published in 1971.
His novels, Naukar ki kameez, Khilega to Dekhenge, Deewar mein ek Khidki rehti thi, are considered among the finest hindi literature.
Shukla’s short story collections’ Ped par karma, and Mahavidyalaya have also garnered much attention.
Similarly, his poetry collections including Lagbhag Jaihind, Vah aadmi chala gaya naya garam coat pehenkar vichar ki tarah, Sab kuch hona bacha rahega.
Atirikt nahi, Kavita se lambi Kavita, Akash Dharti ko Khatkhata hai, have also gained praises globally.
His works for children, such as Hare Patte Ke Rang Ki Patarangi and Kahin Kho Gaya Naam Ka Ladka, have also been well-received by readers.
Shukla’s books have been translated into languages worldwide.
Vinod Kumar Shukla recognized with numerous prestigious awards
Vinod Kumar Shukla, a distinguished Hindi author and poet, has been honored with several prestigious awards throughout his career.
His accolades include the Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh Fellowship, Raza Award, Veersingh Dev Award, Srujanbharati Award, Raghuveer Sahay Smriti Award, Dayawati Modi Kavi Shikhar Award, Bhawani Prasad Mishra Award, Maithilisharan Gupt Award, and the Pt. Sundarlal Sharma Award.
Notably, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999 for his novel Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi.
In recent years, Shukla was awarded the Matribhoomi Book of the Year Award.
The selection panel for this award included writer-musician Amit Chaudhary, Iranian-American journalist Roya Hakakian, and Ethiopian-American writer Maza Mengiste.
They praised Shukla’s work, noting that his prose and poetry capture the essence of subtle and often overlooked aspects of life.
The panel described his writing as the voice of a deeply intelligent artist, likening it to that of a daydreamer who is suddenly taken by surprise.
Last year, PEN America honored Shukla with the Nabokov Award for international literature, making him the first writer from Asia to receive this prestigious recognition.
In addition to these literary achievements, Shukla’s work has also inspired other forms of art. Renowned filmmaker Mani Kaul made a film based on Shukla’s novel Naukar Ki Kameez.
