The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its office is located in Rabindra Bhavan near Mandi House in Delhi.
A R Venkatachalapathy is an Indian historian, author and translator who writes and publishes in Tamil and English. Currently he is a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). He is noted for collecting and publishing the works of Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan.
Dr. Asha Pande was a professor and the first Indian woman to receive the Légion d'honneur She was the founder-director of Rajasthan University's Master in European Studies programme and headed the Department of Dramatics at Rajasthan University, and Center for French and Francophone Studies. She has been honored for promoting French language in India. She died on 4 October 2018 due to liver ailment.
Uday Prakash is a Hindi poet, scholar, journalist, translator and short story writer from India. He has worked as administrator, editor, researcher, and TV director. He writes for major dailies and periodicals as a freelancer. He has also received several awards for his collection of short stories and poems. With Mohan Das he received Sahitya Academi Awards in 2011. He is the first author to return his Sahitya Akademi award on Sep 3, 2015 against the killing of M. M. Kalburgi that initiated a storm of national protests by writers, artists,scholars and intellectuals. .
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa is an Indian novelist, philosopher and screenwriter who writes in Kannada. His work is popular in the state of Karnataka and he is widely regarded as one of modern India's popular novelists. His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization. He has been among the top-selling authors in the Kannada language and his books have been translated into Hindi and Marathi which have also been sellers.
Shrilal Shukla was a Hindi writer, notable for his satire. He worked as a PCS officer for the state government of Uttar Pradesh, later inducted into the IAS. He has written over 25 books, including Raag Darbari, Makaan, Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj, Pehla Padaav and Bisrampur Ka Sant.
Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra is a Sanskrit author, poet, lyricist, playwright and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi.
Ashok Vajpeyi is an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, literary-cultural critic, apart from being a noted cultural and arts administrator, and a former civil servant. He was chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi India's National Academy of Arts, Ministry of Culture, Govt of India, 2008–2011. He has published over 23 books of poetry, criticism and art, and was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award given by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, in 1994 for his poetry collection, Kahin Nahin Wahin. His notable poetry collections include, Shaher Ab Bhi Sambhavana Hai (1966), Tatpurush (1986), Bahuri Akela (1992), Ibarat Se Giri Matrayen, Ummeed ka Doosra Naam (2004) and Vivaksha (2006), besides this he has also published works on literary and art criticism: Filhal, Kuchh Poorvagrah, Samay se Bahar, Kavita ka Galp and Sidhiyan Shuru ho Gayi Hain. He is generally seen as part of the old Delhi-centric literary-cultural establishment consisting of bureaucrat-poets and academicians like Sitakanta Mahapatra, Keki Daruwalla, J.P.Das, Gopi Chand Narang, Indra Nath Choudhari and K.Satchidanandan.
Parichay Das, is an Indian writer, essayist, poet and editor of contemporary Bhojpuri poetry. He is Professor and Head, Department of Hindi, Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Deemed University. He writes in Bhojpuri and Hindi. He earned his Ph.D. from Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur. He is former Secretary, Maithili-Bhojpuri Academy and ex-Secretary, Hindi Academy under Delhi Government. He has written/ edited/ text edited more than 30 books. He received Dwi-Vaageesh Samman award for "Srijan Evam Anuvaad" [Creative Writing and Translation] by the Bhartiya Anuvad Parishad [Translator's Association of India] in 2012. He received Bhojpuri Keerti Sammaan, Bharteey Dalit Sahitya Sammaan, Shyam Narayan Pandey Sammaan, Editor's Choice Award and Damodar Das Chaturvedi Bhasha-Sahitya Sammaan. He delivered a lecture on Bhojpuri in Kathmandu as representative of Kendriy Sahitya Akademi in 2012. He recited his poems in 'SAARC Literary Summit ' in Delhi in 2011. He is considered a unique personal essay writer in Indian Languages and path breaker poet in Bhojpuri.
Kashinath Singh is an Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language and known for writing novels and short stories in Hindi. He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Banaras Hindu University. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2011 for his novel Rehan Par Ragghu, and is considered one of the best chroniclers of the city of Varanasi. He has recently received 'Bharat Bharti Award', the state's highest literary award given by U.P. government.
Sachchidanand Sahai is an Indian epigraphist, writer and the scientific advisor to the Government of Cambodia for restoration of Angkor Wat and the Temple of Preah Vihear, known for his knowledge on Khmer civilization. He was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Manzoor Ahtesham was an Indian writer of Hindi literature known for his depiction of the lives of the Indian Muslim community in independent India.
Laltluangliana Khiangte is a Mizo academic, playwright and poet of Mizo literature. He was the principal of the Serampore College and a former professor at Pachhunga University College and the North Eastern Hill University. He is presently serving as the senior most professor at the Department of Mizo at Mizoram University. He is a recipient of the Pu Buanga Award, the highest literary award of the Mizo Academy of Letters. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian literature.
Ilapavuluri Panduranga Rao was an Indian scholar, poet, writer, linguist and orator of Telugu descent.
Balram Shukla is an academician, poet and author based in New Delhi. He is a self-taught scholar of Sanskrit and Indian literature. He works as a professor of Sanskrit at the University of Delhi. He is a scholar of Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Prakrit. He writes poetry in both Sanskrit and Persian, and also translates Persian poetry into Sanskrit using the same poetic metres. He has been awarded the Badrayan Vyas Award for Sanskrit in 2013 by the President of India. He has authored eight books.
Namvar Singh was an Indian literary critic, linguist, academician and theoretician. He received his doctorate degree from Banaras Hindu University where he also taught for some time. He served as a professor of Hindi literature in several other universities. He was the founder and first chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre of Indian Languages and continued to remain as a professor emeritus after his retirement in 1992.
Shiv Prasaad Singh was an Indian writer, university professor and scholar of the Hindi language. He is well-known for writing novels, short stories and critiques in Hindi. He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Benares Hindu University. He received the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for his novel Neela Chand.
Prabhat Ranjan is a Hindi novelist, fiction writer, and translator. He is currently professor of Hindi at Zakir Husain Delhi College in the University of Delhi, Delhi. He runs an online literary website Jankipul.com since 10 years.
Doodhnath Singh was an Indian Hindi language writer, critic and poet. Born in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh, Singh studied Hindi at the University of Allahabad and served as a Professor there until 1994. In 2014, the government of Uttar Pradesh honoured him with their Bharat Bharti Samman.
Kailash Vajpeyi was an Indian poet, writer, and lyricist who chiefly wrote Hindi language poems throughout his literary career. He wrote more than 28 books, including one of his publications Hawa Mein Hastakshar which translates to "signature in the air" for which he was awarded a literary honour Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009. The University of Lucknow awarded him Vachaspati title in recognition of his contribution to Hindi literature.
