Nilmani Phookan Jr

For other people with similar names, see Nilmoni Phukan Sr.

Nilmani Phookan
Born(1933-09-10)10 September 1933
Dergaon, Assam Province, British India
Died19 January 2023(2023-01-19) (aged 89)
Guwahati, Assam, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Poet, academic
Known forSymbolism

Nilmani Phookan (10 September 1933 – 19 January 2023)[1] was an Indian poet in the Assamese language and an academic. His work, replete with symbolism, is inspired by French symbolism and is representative of the genre in Assamese poetry. His notable works include Surya Henu Nami Ahe Ei Nodiyedi, Gulapi Jamur Lagna, and Kobita.[2][3]

Phookan has won the 56th Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award, for the year 2020.[4] He was also awarded the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for his poetry collection, Kavita (Kobita).[5] He was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 1990,[6] and received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest literary honor in India, given by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in 2002.[7]

Early life and education

Phookan was born in Dergaon in Golaghat district, Assam. He received his Master's degree in History from Gauhati University in 1961. Although he had started writing poetry in the early 1950s.[8]

Career

Phookan started his career as a lecturer at Arya Vidyapeeth College in Guwahati in 1964, where he worked until his retirement in 1992.[8] He has also translated Japanese and European poetry into Assamese.

Phookan won the 56th Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award, for the year 2020.[9][10] He was also awarded the Assam Valley Literary Award in 1997,[11] and in 2002 he received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest literary honor in India, given by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, reserved for "the immortals of literature".[12] In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by Dibrugarh University.[13]

Works

  • Surya Heno Nami Ahe Ei Nadiyedi ("The sun is said to come descending by this river"), 1963.
  • Manas-pratima. Guwahati Book Stall, 1971.
  • Phuli Thaka Suryamukhi Phultor Phale ("Towards the Blooming Sunflower"), 1971.
  • Kabita. Sahitya Akademi Publications, 2001. ISBN 81-260-1058-4.
  • Selected Poems Of Nilmani Phookan. tr. by Krishna Dulal Barua. Sahitya Akademi Publications, 2007. ISBN 81-260-2433-X.

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ^ Noted Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan passes away
  2. ^ Akademi, p. 462
  3. ^ Since he shares his name another Assamese poet, Nilamani Phukan (1879–1978), he is often referred as Nilamani Phookan(Jr). He had been awarded the 56th highest literacy award Jnanpith Award by the Government of India in 2021.(J
  4. ^ "Damodar Mauzo wins Jnanpith Award, here's all you need to know about the renowned Goan writer". The Free Press Journal. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Sahitya Akademi Award 1955-2007 - Assamese". Official listings, Sahitya Akademi website. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Padma Awards". Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
  7. ^ "Conferment of Sahitya Akademi Fellowship". Official listings, Sahitya Akademi website. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  8. ^ a b "Nilmani Phookan". India - Poetry International Web. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  9. ^ "Assam poet and Konkani novelist receive Jnanpith Award". The Indian Express. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Poet Nilmani Phookan wins the Jnanpith award". The Times of India. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Another plume in writer's crown". The Telegraph. 13 April 2008. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Bhisham Sahni, Kaifi Azmi in Sahitya Akademi". The Tribune. 20 February 2002.
  13. ^ "Dibrugarh University (DU) Confers Doctor of Literature On Poet Nilamani Phukan". Sentinelassam. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Noted Assamese Poet Nilmani Phookan Wins Jnanpith Award". www.pratidintime.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021.
  15. ^ "असमिया साहित्यकार नीलमणि फूकन व कोंकणी साहित्यकार दामोदर मौउजो को ज्ञानपीठ पुरस्कार".