Poet-writer Jayanta Mahapatra dies at 95, state funeral today
Mahapatra's funeral will take place on Monday with full state honours, the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.
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Jayanta Mahapatra was the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. (Express File Photo) Eminent littérateur and poet Jayanta Mahapatra passed away on Sunday late evening at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. He was 95.
Mahapatra was admitted to the said hospital on August 4 due to old-age related complications. He was shifted to the ICU after his condition deteriorated.
Mahapatra was the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. He was also conferred with the Padma Shri award in 2009. However, he returned it in 2015 to protest against “rising intolerance in India”.
The author of ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Hunger’, considered as classics in modern Indian English literature, Mahapatra penned 27 books of poems, of which seven are in Odia language and the rest in English.
Born on October 22, 1928, in Cuttack, Mahapatra started his career as a lecturer in physics and served in many government colleges across Odisha.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief on the passing away of Mahapatra, describing him “a legendary author and poet who was prolific in both English and Odia literature”. “He had successfully elevated the reach of Odia literature to a wider circle. His intellect and knowledge was a guiding spirit for many youngsters to write in English literature,” said the CM.
Mahapatra’s funeral will take place on Monday with full state honours, the CM said.
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