Nilmani Phookan (born 10 September 1933) is an Indian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Assamese language Assamese (), also Asamiya ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-east Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language, and it serves as a ''lingua franca'' of the wider region. The easternmost Indo-Iranian language, ...

and an

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. His work, replete with

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

, is inspired by

French symbolism Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

and is representative of the genre in

Assamese poetry Assamese poetry is poetry in Assamese language. It borrows many themes from Sanskrit literature and is mainly devotional in tone. The origins of Assamese poetry are considered to have taken place in the early 13th century, the ''Bhagavat Purana' ...

. His notable works include ''Surya Henu Nami Ahe Ei Nodiyedi'', ''Gulapi Jamur Lagna'', and ''Kobita''. He has won the 56th

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

, India's highest literary award , for the year 2020. He was also awarded the 1981

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in Assamese for his poetry collection, ''Kavita'' (Kobita). He was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1990, and received the

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.Quote: "In his acceptance speech when India's National Academy of Letters (Sahitya Akademi) in 1997 conferred its h ...

, the highest literary honor in India, given by

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, India's National Academy of Letters in 2002.

Early life and education

He was born in

Dergaon Dergaon (IPA: ˈdɜːˌgɑ̃ʊ) is a town and a municipality in the Golaghat district of Assam, India.It is 282 km from the state capital Guwahati. Hemchandra Barua, the compiler of ''Hemkosh'' (the earliest Assamese-English dictionary) ...

Golaghat district Golaghat district (Pron:ˌgəʊləˈgɑ:t) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. It attained district status in 1987. The district headquarters are located at Golaghat. The district occupies an and lies above sea level. ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. He received his Master's degree in History from

Guwahati University Gauhati University, also known as GU, is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established on 26 January 1948 under the provisions of an Act enacted by the Assam Legislative Assem ...

in 1961. Although he had started writing poetry since the early 1950s.

Career

He started his career as a lecturer at Arya Vidyapeeth College in

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

in 1964, where he worked until his retirement in 1992. He has also translated Japanese and European poetry into Assamese. He has won the 56th

, India's highest literary award, for the year 2020. He was also awarded the

Assam Valley Literary Award The Assam Valley Literary Award ( as, অসম উপত্যকা সাহিত্য বঁটা) was conceived in the year 1990 by ''Williamson Magor Education Trust'' to honour creative writers who have enhanced Assamese literature. It ...

in 1997, and in 2002 he received the

, the highest literary honor in India, given by

, India's National Academy of Letters, reserved for "the immortals of literature". In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by

Dibrugarh University Dibrugarh University is a collegiate public state university in the Indian state of Assam. It is located at Dibrugarh, Assam, India. It was set up in 1965 under the provisions of the Dibrugarh University Act, 1965 enacted by the Assam Legislat ...

Works

* ''Surya Heno Nami Ahe Ei Nadiyedi'' ("The sun is said to come descending by this river"), 1963. * ''Manas-pratima''. Guwahati Book Stall, 1971. * ''Phuli Thaka Suryamukhi Phultor Phale'' ("Towards the Blooming Sunflower"), 1971. * ''Kabita''. Sahitya Akademi Publications, 2001. . * ''Selected Poems Of Nilmani Phookan''. tr. by Krishna Dulal Barua. Sahitya Akademi Publications, 2007. .

Awards & Recognitions

* In December 2021, the prolific poet and writer Nilmani Phookan received the prestigious

for his lifetime contribution in literature. * In 1997, Phookan was awarded the

. * He was awarded the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for his poetry collection, Kavita (Kobita) * He was awarded the

in 1990.

References

External links

*
* Laureate of Assam-Nilamani Phookan
FacenFcats.com)

at

Assam Tribune ''The Assam Tribune'' is an Indian English daily newspaper published from Guwahati and Dibrugarh, Assam. With over 700,000 copies of current circulation and a readership of over 3 million, it is the highest circulated English daily in northeaste ...

Poems by Nilmani Phookan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phookan, Nilmani 1933 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Recipients of the Assam Valley Literary Award Recipients of the Gangadhar National Award People from Golaghat district Assamese-language poets Symbolist poets People from Dergaon Poets from Assam Indian male poets 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian poets Assam Valley Literary Award