On 14 December 2018, Amitav Ghosh was announced that the winner of the 54th Jnanpith award. He is one of the most prominent contemporary Indian writers. The 62-years-old English writer hails from Kolkata. His notable works include a “The Circle of Reason”, “The Shadow Lines”, “The Calcutta Chromosome”, “The Glass Palace”, “The Hungry Tide”, “Sea of Poppies”, “River of Smoke” and “Flood of Fire”.
Bharatiya Jnanpith, a non-profit organisation, presents the Jnanpith award annually. It is an award for Indian authors who have made “outstanding contribution towards literature”.
The Sahitya Akademi in December announced the 2018 winners in 24 languages. The winners include Anees Saleem in English, Rama Kant Shukla in Sanskrit, Rajesh Kumar Vyas in Rajasthani, Rahman Abbas in Urdu, Lok Nath Upadhyay in Nepali, Chitra Mughal in Hindi and S. Ramakrishnan in Tamil, among others. A casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and a cheque of ₹1 lakh will be awarded to the winners. The special function will be held on 29 January 2019 at Kamani Auditorium, Delhi. The Sahitya Akademi award is among the most prestigious literary honours bestowed on writers for their works across genres and languages.
Justin Cartwright passed away on 3 December 2018. He was a 75-year-old writer who was born in South-Africa. His son Serge informed that he was suffering from pneumonia. He suffered from dementia as well. His books were largely about people struggling to find their place in the world. His notable works are “Freedom for the Wolves”, “In Every Face I Meet”, “Half in Love”, “The Promise of Happiness”, “The Song Before it is Sung”, “To Heaven by Water Bloomsbury”, “Up Against the Night”, etc.
