Assamese writer Sanjib Pol Deka has been selected for Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2019 for his wonderful short story, Eipine Ki Ase? that blends the personal and the political, hinting at the mess after three decades of insurgency.

Sahitya Akademi announced its annual Yuva Puraskar 2019 in 23 languages today. Eleven books of poetry, six of short stories, five of novel and one literary criticism have won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2019. The Awards were recommended by distinguished Jury members representing 23 Indian languages and approved by the Executive Board of the Sahitya Akademi which met today under the Chairmanship of Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambar, President, Sahitya Akademi.

Those who have won the Awards for their collection of poetry include Rujab Muchahary(Bodo), Anuj Lugun(Hindi), Sagar Nazir(Kashmiri), Anuja Akathoottu(Malayalam), Jiten Oinamba(Manipuri), Sushil Kumar Shinde(Marathi), Karna Biraha(Nepali), Yuvraj Bhattarai(Sanskrit), Guhiram Kisku(Santali), Kiran Paryani Anmol (Sindhi) and Sabarinathan(Tamil).

Those who have won the Awards for their collection of short stories include Sanjib Pol Deka (Assamese), Sunil Kumar(Dogri), Tanuj Solanki(English), Ajay Soni(Gujarati), Hemant Aiya(Konkani) and Keerti Parihar(Rajasthani).

Those who have won the Awards for their collection of Novel include Moumita(Bengali). Fakeer (Shridhar Banvasi G.C.)(Kannada), Yadwinder Singh Sandhu(Punjabi), Gaddam Mohan Rao(Telugu) and Salman Abdus Samad(Urdu). The one who has won the Award for Literary Criticism is Sisira Behera (Odia). The Award for Maithili language will be declared at a later date shortly.

According to the procedure, the Executive Board declared the Awards on the basis of unanimous or selection on the basis of majority vote made by the Jury. The Award relates to books published by an author of the age of 35 and below as on 15 January of the year of the award.

The Award in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque and a cheque of Rs.50,000/- will be presented to the awardees at a special function to be held at a later date.