Who Is Namita Gokhale? Author Wins 2021 Sahitya Akademi Award

Sahitya Akademi announced Namita Gokhale as the winner for her 2016 English novel Things To Leave Behind on December 30, 2021.

Along with her, Daya Prakash Sinha and Khalid Hussain also won award in the Hindi and Punjabi category respectively. The Ministry of Culture announced awards to authors in 20 languages.

Who Is Namita Gokhale?

Namita Gokhale is an Indian writer, publisher, editor and literature festival director.

She is co-director of the famous Jaipur literature festival which is the world's largest free literary festival along with William Dalrymple. She has published a total of nineteen books of fiction and non-fiction.

Namita Gokhale hosted and conceptualised a multilingual book show for Doordarshan named Kitaabnama: Books and Beyond.

Gokhale is accredited with advising and conceptualising various other festivals dedicated to literature in India and abroad namely Mountain Echoes festival of Bhutan, International Festival of Indian Literature-Neemrana 2002, The Africa Asia Literary Conference', 2006, The Himalayan Echo Kumaon Festival for Arts and Literature also called the Abbotsford Literary Weekend.

She co-founded Yatra Books with Neeta Gupta. It is a publishing company that works in promoting creative writing and translations.

She made her debut through the novel Paro: Dreams of Passion in 1984, which is a social comedy.

Suggested Reading: Eight Reasons Why Decoupled Has Created Buzz Since Its Release

Sahitya Akademi declared Namita Gokhale as winner for her 2016 English novel Things To Leave Behind.

She took to Twitter and expressed her happiness over winning the national award. She wrote, "Deeply honoured by the Sahitya Akademi Award for English, 2021 for my novel Things To Leave Behind. Feel a deep sense of pride and gratitude to belong to the vibrant Indian literatures."

Watch her interview with SheThePeople on her book Things to Leave Behind

Awards Won By Gokhale:

In 2017, Gokhale won Centenary National Award for Literature by the Assam Sahitya Sabha in Guwahati for her literary contributions and service to the nation in supporting and showcasing literary talents.

Her book historical panoramic novel Things to Leave Behind, originally published in 2016  won her multiple awards. In 2017, she won Best Fiction Jury Award in English category at the Valley of Words International Literature Festival, International Dublin Literary Award for 2018 and Sushila Devi Literature Award in 2019.

In September 2021, Gokhale received the 7th Yamin Hazarika Woman of Substance Award.