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Distinguished litterateurs Amrita Pritam and Prof U R Anantha Murthy have been elected fellows of the Sahitya Akademi, the highest honour conferred by the state-run body on a writer.
Prof Anantha Murthy, known for his writings in Kannada. was awarded the Gyanpith in 1995. He was formerly the vice-chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, Kerala and the chairman of the National Book Trust. His body of published work comprises a rich variety of popular novels, short stories, poems and essays.
Eighty-five-year-old reclusive Punjabi poetess and writer Amrita Pritam was awarded the Gyanpith in 1982 for her works that have been translated into Hindi, English and several other languages. She has published over 70 books including novels, short stories and poetry.
Fellowships have also been awarded to distinguished Bengali poet and writer Sankha Ghosh, eminent Rajasthani and Hindi writer Vijay Dan Detha and Telugu linguist and scholar Prof Bh Krishnamurti, Akademi secretary K Satchidanandan said on Monday.
The prime minister would confer the fellowship, limited to 21 'immortals of literature' at a time, on the Gyanpith awardees on November 1 at the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Akademi.