Nilmani Phookan Jr and Damodar Mauzo wins Jnanpith Award

Highlights:

• Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr won the 56th Jnanpith Award and Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo won the 57th Jnanpith Award.
• Phookan is a Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi awardee.
• He is a well-known poet from Guwahati who has penned Surya Henu Nami Ahe Ei Nodiyedi, Gulapi Jamur Lagna, and Kobita.
• In 1990, Phookan was given the Padma Shri, and in 2002, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship.
• Phookan is the third Assamese author to win the Jnanpith award.
• Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya received the award in 1979, and Mamoni Raisom Goswami received it in 2000.
• Mauzo is based in Majorda, Goa, and has won the Sahitya Akademi Award. 
• He is most known for his books Karmelin and Tsunami Simon and his short tales Teresa's Man and Other Goa Stories.
• This is the second Jnanpith Award for a Konkani writer, with Ravindra Kelekar receiving the first in 2006.

• The Jnanpith, the country's highest literary prize, is given to writers for "great contributions to literature."
•  The Bharatiya Jnanpith organization bestows the Jnanpith Award on a writer from India every year.
• This award, established in 1961, is only granted to Indian writers who write in both Indian languages and English.