Shillong, Oct 7: Writer Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih is jubilant over the recent Shakti Bhatt award. His second novel ‘The Distaste of the Earth’ is also on the long list of the JCB prize for literature.
“To be chosen from among so many renowned writers from India, I truly feel both humbled and honoured. I also believe that this is not only a recognition for my body of work but for Khasi literature as well, for after all, a part of my work is in Khasi”, Kynpham said referring to Shakti Bhatt award.
According to a statement, the 2024 Shakti Bhatt prize is for his body of work.
Kynpham writes poetry, drama and fiction in Khasi and English. He teaches literature at North Eastern Hill University.
Kynpham’s awards include the Northeast Poetry Award (2004), the Veer Shankar Shah-Raghunath Shah National Award (2008), a Tagore Fellowship (2018), The Bangalore Review June Jazz Award (2021) and the Sparrow Literary Award (2022).
His debut novel Funeral Nights is a story about a group of friends who travel from Shillong to a small village to witness the fading tradition of Ka Phor Sorat or the feast of the dead but Kynpham allows them to be stuck there but then have the time to tell stories that encapsulates the minutiae of personal lives that also capture universal concerns.
His second novel is one among the 10 books long listed for JCB prize for literature .
The announcement of the shortlist is on October 23.
The novel is inspired by the true and tragic love story of Manik Raitong and Lieng Makaw. The novelist weaves an ancient world of Khasi kings and queens, warriors and plunderers, and chronicles the sorrows of a young man caught up in that world. And it all begins in a pata, the local bar.
