Eminent Hindi writer Prof. Namvar Singh to be conferred Kuvempu Rashtreeya Puraskar on March 15th, 2015 at Delhi Karnataka Sangha Noted Hindi writer Prof. Namvar Singh will be conferred the prestigious Kuvempu Rashtreeya Puraskar ( 2014) at Delhi Karnataka Sangha on March 15, 2015 at 3.30 PM
This was disclosed to the media here today by Vasant Shetty Bellare , President of the Delhi Karnataka Sangha, and Dr Purushottam Bilimale eminent scholar and former President of the Sangha.
The award carries an amount of Rs five lakh and a citation. The award will be given to him by honorable Justice of the Supreme Court, Shri Gopal Gowda, The award ceremony, which was planned earlier for December 29, 2014 at poet Kuvempu's birthplace by Karnataka has been shifted to Delhi as Prof. Natvar Singh was unable to participate in the function held at Kuppali.
Kuppali Venkata Puttappa, popularly known as Kuvempu, major poet of the 20th century, was a prolific writer. His works include 27 collection of poems, 10 literary essays, 12 plays, three collection of short stories, four Translations, two biographies, two novels of greater magnitude, one autobiography, one epic, three khandakaavyas etc. He has received the prestigious Jnanapitha Award for his epic Ramayana Darshanam, and also received Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India. The prathishanana instituted a national award in his name and the first award was conferred to Dr. Sachidanandan, a noted poet from Kerala, in 2013.
The committee headed by noted critic Dr. CN Ramachandran has unanimously selected Dr. Namvar Singh for the 2014 award for his excellent contributions to Hindi literary criticism.
Born in a peasant family at Jiwanpur in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi district, Dr. Namwar Singh was educated at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), obtaining the degree of Ph. D. in Hindi Literature in 1953. He then taught at Banaras and Sagar Universities. He later worked as a professor and Head of the Hindi Department, Jodhpur University, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He had been appointed Vice Chancellor of the Wardha-based Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University in Gujarat. During his tenure as the Vice Chancellor, Dr Singh tried to improve the teaching standards of the University and impart a new direction to its activities to maintain its uniqueness.
Dr. Namwar Singh wrote poetry during his student days. Soon he joined the Progressive Writers movement. He published his first book of essays, Bakalam Khud, in 1951. Later, he turned to literary criticism, and has published a number of works. He also edits the Hindi quarterly Alochana. His Kavita ke Naye Pratiman, is a comprehensive study of the new poetry movement in Hindi emphasizing the necessity for a new criteria to evaluate poetry. For its clarity of vision and analytic acumen, the work has been hailed as an outstanding contribution to contemporary Hindi literature. Prof. Namvar Singh has received Sahitya akademi award for this
The new criteria springing up in the Hindi poetry after the Chhayavad have been marked by Namvar Singh. The criteria are those of realistic poetry: for example, poetic diction, 'plainness of statement', dramatic poetic structure, absurdity and irony, complexity and tension of experience, and honesty. These are related to both the form and content of poetry. The criteria concerning poetic diction, 'plainness of statement', and structure are related to the form while the other criteria are related to the content of poetry. What characterizes Singh's approach is that he analyses neither of the two sets of criteria as independent in itself. He analyses the formal criteria in relation to the content and vice-versa.
Namvar Singh is the most important literary critic in Hindi today. He is also perhaps with Nirmal Verma, the most articulate and influential of all living Hindi writers. Over the last decade or so he has acquired a pan Indian reputation as one of the tallest literary and cultural critics writing in any Indian language.
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Prof. Ganga Prasad Vimal, an eminent Hindi poet, short story writer, novelist and translator will introduce Prof. Namavar Singh and Prof. H S Shivapraksh, leading poet and playwright will speak on Kuvempu.
Dr. Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, distinguished Indian poet and writer in Hindi and also president of the Sahitya Akademy will be the guest honor. Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah, an eminent writer and Chairman, Kuvempu Pratishthana will preside over the function. Noted artists from Karnataka will perform Kuvempu writings.
The Kuvempu Prathisthana and Delhi Karnataka Sangha cordially invite you to the function.