Two authors in Indian Literature will be felicitated at the 16th edition of Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest this year. The Godrej Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Hindi novelist and poet Vinod Kumar Shukla. The Godrej Literature Live! Poet Laureateship will be held by Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandra, who, aptly, studied and taught in Mumbai.
A widely translated modern Hindi novelist and poet, known for his style of almost magic-realism as expressed in his best-known books Naukar Ki Kameez and Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi, Vinod Kumar Shukla has won both of India’s highest literary awards – the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jnanpith Award. He is also the only Indian author to have received the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. He holds an MSc degree in Agriculture which he taught at university level.
Accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Shukla said, “Writing is an attempt to speak, to express oneself, to search for one’s own voice. In this search for expression, we take the help of symbols, images, and metaphors. If we read well, we also move ahead. Therefore, it is necessary that we recognize our original voice and return to it again and again. For me, the ultimate truth is that the beginning of writing was with poetry, and the end too will be with poetry.”
Gujarati poet and playwright Sitanshu Yashaschandra received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection of poetry Jatayu. He has also been awarded the Padma Shri, a high Indian civilian honor. His style has been interpreted as surreal. He has long had an association with Mumbai, having studied at St Xavier’s College, received his Masters and PhD degrees from Mumbai University and taught at Mithibai College (as well as at several other Indian colleges and universities). He has also studied and written in the US and Europe where he was a visiting fellow at the Sorbonne.
On being appointed Poet Laureate of the Festival, Yashaschandra said, “What brings joy along with the Godrej Literature Live! 2025 Poet Laureate to me is my understanding that it is not a “puraskar”, it is a “paaritoshik”: not an award declaring any power-related act of “puras-karan” or “placement in front of others”, but an expression of “paritosh” or joy felt by some of my contemporary writers. I am glad and grateful that you have shared this feeling publicly with me”.
Amy Fernandes and Quasar Thakore Padamsee, co-directors of Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest, said, “It is an honor for us that two icons of Indian literature have accepted our felicitations this year – Vinod Kumar Shukla, rooted in agriculture and rural realities while soaring in imagination and words to captivate millions; and Sitanshu Yashaschandra, an inspirational poet and teacher. Writing in Hindi and Gujarati respectively, and being such a significant part of our festival, reinforces our belief in the importance and connections of works in different languages.”
Nadir Godrej, chairman and managing director Godrej Industries, said, “We are privileged that two such giants of the Indian literary stage have accepted the Lifetime Achievement and Poet Laureate awards at this year’s Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest. Vinod Kumar Shukla and Sitanshu Yashaschandra are revered names in the worlds of Hindi and Gujarati literature and having them at the festival is not only a matter of immense pride but also highlights the richness and variety of India’s literary canvas.”
Past recipients of the Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award include Pratibha Ray, C S Lakshmi, Mahesh Elkunchwar, Anita Desai, Ruskin Bond, Shanta Gokhale, Sir Mark Tully, Girish Karnad, Amitav Ghosh, Kiran Nagarkar, M T Vasudevan Nair, Khushwant Singh, Sir V S Naipaul, Mahasweta Devi
Previous Poet Laureates include Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Mamang Dai, Gieve Patel, Adil Jussawalla, Javed Akhtar, K Satchidanandan, Jayanta Mahapatra, Gulzar, Keki Daruwalla, Vikram Seth, Joy Goswami
