 |
Gulzar Singh Sandhu (born 27 February 1935) is a prominent Punjabi language writer. He won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, given by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, for his short story collection, Amar Katha in 1982. [1] Among other awards he was also the recipient of International Association of Authors, Playwrights and Artists of Canada in 1992 and Shiromoni Punjabi Sahityakar Puruskar from the Education Department of Punjab in 2001.
He was born on 27 February 1935 in the village of Kotla Badla in Samrala division of Ludhiana district. He has a master's degree and Gyani in Punjabi literature. He was married to Dr. Surjeet Kaur Pannu on 11 March 1966.
He has held various senior posts with the Indian government, Punjab Agricultural University and Indian Red Cross. He taught in Punjabi University as a professor of Journalism and Mass communication. He was also the chief editor of prominent newspapers and the founding editor of The Punjabi Tribune published from Chandigarh. Due to his remarkable contribution to Punjabi literature has been honored with appointments to several educational and literary institutions such as Punjabi writer's academy, Punjabi literary academy and Punjab arts council.
He lives in Chandigarh, India with his wife and continues to make valuable contribution to Indian literature. His columns are published regularly in noted Punjabi magazines and newspapers in India and abroad.
Amrita Pritam was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of work comprised over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were all translated into several Indian and foreign languages.
Kartar Singh Duggal was an Indian writer who wrote in Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, and English. His works include short stories, novels, dramas and plays. His works have been translated into Indian and foreign languages. He has served as director of the All India Radio.
Jaswant Singh Kanwal was an Indian novelist, short story writer and essayist of the Punjabi language. He was born in the village of Dhudike, Moga District, Punjab, India. As a young teenager he left school and went to Malaya. It was there that he first got interested in literature. He returned to Dhudike after a few years and has lived there ever since. He was awarded the Punjabi Sahit Shiromani Award in the year 2007.
Jaswant Singh Neki was a leading Indian Sikh scholar, significant neo-metaphysical Punjabi language poet and former Director of PGI Chandigarh and Head of the Psychiatry Department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the 8th Schedule to the Indian constitution as well as in English and Rajasthani language.
Giani Gurdit Singh was born in Mithewal village in the state of Punjab, India. He was considered one of the greatest contemporary writers in Punjabi, and his book Mera Pind is regarded as a classic. It is now in its 14th edition and has been in print continuously since 1961. He was also a pioneering journalist, the Owner-Editor of Parkash 1947–1978. He was also the editor of Singh Sabha Patrika, a monthly magazine of Sikh history and divinity. Giani Gurdit Singh graduated as "Giani" from Punjab University, Lahore in 1945 and he specialised in literature, divinity, history and folklore. He was a member of the Punjab Legislative Council from 1956 to 1962. He contributed to the debates at that time and in the creation of Punjabi University, Patiala and the recognition of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, as the 5th Takht of the Sikhs. He was General Secretary of the Singh Sabha Shatabadi Committee, Amritsar, which was renamed Kendriya Sri Guru Singh Sabha. As the editor of the magazine Singh Sabha Patrika, he focused on issues of importance to the Sikhs. He also established two Guru Granth Vidya Kendras, one in Chandigarh and another in Mehrauli, Delhi.
The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters. It is the highest honour conferred by the Akademi on a living writer, the number of fellows at no time exceeding 21. Elected from among writers thought by the Akademi to be of acknowledged merit, the fellows are sometimes described as the "immortals of Indian literature."
Prem Parkash is a writer from Punjab, India. He "is one of the major short story writers in post-1947 East Punjabi literature." He is also known as Prem Parkash Khannvi.
Surjit Patar is a Punjabi language writer and poet of Punjab, India. His poems enjoy immense popularity with the general public and have won high acclaim from critics.
Rana Nayar is a translator of poetry and short fiction from Punjabi to English. He has more than forty volumes of poetry and translation works to his credit. He is also a theatre artist and has participated in a number of major full-length productions. He won Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee prize for his English translation of the Punjabi devotional poetry of Saint Baba Farid.
Krishna Sobti was an Indian Hindi-language fiction writer and essayist. She won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1980 for her novel Zindaginama and in 1996, was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest award of the Akademi. In 2017, she received the Jnanpith Award for her contribution to Indian literature.
Punjabi literature, specifically literary works written in the Punjabi language, is characteristic of the historical Punjab of India and Pakistan and the Punjabi diaspora. The Punjabi language is written in several scripts, of which the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhī scripts are the most commonly used in Pakistan and India, respectively.
Ajit Singh Saini (1922–2007) was an eminent and critically acclaimed writer of Punjab (India). He was associated with the Punjabi daily "Ajit" as its managing editor and columnist. He is remembered in Punjab both as a freedom-fighter and an acclaimed writer and columnist. He was an officer in Indian National Army (INA) and a close lieutenant of Subhas Chandra Bose. Saini worked with the wire service of INA and Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind or Provisional Government of Free India, more simply, Indian government in exile.
Dalip Kaur Tiwana was one of the foremost novelists and short-story writers of contemporary Punjabi literature. She won awards, both regional and national, and was a widely translated author. She retired as Professor of Punjabi, and Dean, from Punjabi University, Patiala. She is widely credited as a tour-de-force in the creation of the contemporary literature in the Punjabi language.
Sujan Singh was a story writer of Punjab, India.
Mangal Sen (1915–1972) was a Punjabi writer, poet and essayist in East Punjab, India. He wrote first under the name Balwant Rai, but is most famous for his poetry under his pen name Bawa Balwant. He started writing poetry in Urdu but later switched to his mother tongue of Punjabi. Balwant is credited with helping start the progressive movement in Punjabi poetry. He also made a contribution to the freedom struggle of India.
Kulbir Singh Kaang, also spelled as Kulbir Singh Kang, was a noted, Shromani Sahitya Award winner, Punjabi writer and critic. After serving the Punjabi literature, language and culture for more than 48 years, he died after a prolonged illness on November 1, 2008 at his house in Amritsar in Indian Punjab.
Madhur Kapila was an Indian novelist, journalist, art critic and a reviewer of Hindi literature. Some of her published works included Bhatke Raahi, Satwan Swar and Saamne ka Aasman. She was a recipient of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi Award for lifetime contributions to literature and the Cultural Representative Award from the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Dr. Harcharan Singh (1914–2006) was an Indian dramatist and writer in the Punjabi language. He dedicated 69 years of his life to Punjabi theater, in which he authored 51 books and staged numerous plays all over the world.
Sukhpal Vir Singh Hasrat was an Indian poet in the Punjabi language.