New Delhi: Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013.
He is the 10th Hindi writer to receive the honour and joins the likes of Sumitra Nandan Pant, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar among others.
Eighty-year-old Singh, who has also written essays and stories, was born in Balia, Uttar Pradesh. ‘Abhi bilkul abhi’ and ‘Yahan se dekho’ are among his prominent works.
The award includes. Rs 11 lakh and a citation, a release from the Jnanpith award committee said.
Profile: Kedarnath Singh was born on 7 July 1934 in village Chakia of district Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh.He done his graduation from uday pratap college varanasi. He passed M.A from Kashi Hindu Vishwa Vidyalaya and did his Ph.D from the same University.
In Gorakhpur, he spent sometimes as a Hindi Teacher and went to Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he served as a professor and the head of department of Hindi Language in Indian Languages Center and retired as a professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Kedar Nath Singh's poetry is characterized by simple, everyday language and images that string together to convey complex themes. One of his major poems is Bagh, a long poem with the tiger as its central character.
Published in the mid 1980s, the poem remains one of the most widely read long poems in Hindi literature and is included in many university curricula. At some level, Bagh bears a striking resemblance to Ted Hughes' Crow, but the two remain independent in their treatment and scope.
