Writer S.L. Bhyrappa has been chosen Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi, which is the highest honour reserved for “the immortals of literature” and limited to 21 people at any given time.

The other writer to be chosen this year as Fellow is C. Narayana Reddy, Telugu poet and educationist.

In a release, the akademi described Prof. Bhyrappa as “a distinguished writer who is widely regarded as one of India’s foremost modern-day writers”. One of the most prolific writers in Kannada whose books have gone into several prints, he worked as a lecturer of philosophy at Sri Kadasiddeshwar College, Hubli, Sardar Patel University, Gujarat, and the Regional College of Education, Mysuru, from where he retired in 1991. Prof. Bhyrappa’s first novel was Bheemakaya published in 1958. He has written 24 novels in a career spanning more than five decades since then. Among the prominent ones are Vamshavruksha, Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, Matadana , Nayi Neralu and Parva . Vamshavruksha received the Kannada Sahitya Academy Award in 1966 and Daatu received both the Kannada Sahitya Academy and the Central Sahitya Akademi awards in 1975. His later novels such as Kavalu and Aavarana have also been at the centre of controversies in the literary circles for their views on religion and women. The writer is the recipient of many awards, including Sahitya Akademi Award, Saraswati Samman and Pampa Prashasti.

The akademi has also announced translation award to G.N. Ranganath Rao for the book Mohan Das: Ondu Satya Kathe .