india

Updated: Apr 10, 2019 22:58 IST

Telugu poet K Siva Reddy is to be conferred the prestigious Saraswati Samman, 2018, for his collection of poems titled Pakkaki Ottigilite (Turning Aside While Lying Down).

The award, instituted by the KK Birla Foundation, is given annually for an outstanding literary work written in any official Indian language and published during the preceding 10 years.

It is the highest recognition in the field of Indian literature and carries a cash purse of Rs 15 lakh, apart from a citation and a plaque.

Born in 1943 in a farmer’s family in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur, Reddy is counted among the most renowned modern poets in Telugu. He has also taught English literature and produced 23 volumes of poetry.

Reddy has also published critical essays on poetry. According to the citation provided by the foundation, Reddy attributes his poetic excellence to his faith in poetry as a weapon in combating injustice and calls himself a wanderer who is forever in search of equality and humanity.

Pakkaki Ottigilite, published in 2016, is an anthology of 104 poems in blank verse. It captures the responses of the poet over the years to social change, the evolution of his own self and his dynamic relationship with the world.

Reddy was chosen for the award after a rigorous selection process carried out by the Chayan Parishad, or selection committee, which includes renowned scholars and writers and was headed by Dr Subhash C Kashyap, former secretary general of the Lok Sabha secretariat.

The Chayan Parishad is assisted by five Kshetra Samities, or regional committees, and 22 Bhasha Samities, or language committees, consisting of eminent writers, scholars and critics in various languages from all parts of the country.

To felicitate writers, the KK Birla Foundation has instituted three awards in the field of literature. These are the Saraswati Samman, Vyas Samman (for Hindi) and Bihari Puraskar (for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).

Past recipients of the Saraswati Samman include poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and writers Vijay Tendulkar, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Dr Indira Parthasarathy Ramanujar, among many others.