ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival announces first ever Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for poetry

In association with KL Sethia Foundation, the award is established in memory of Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia. In addition to a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, the winner will also receive the prestigious opportunity to share the stage with literary heavyweights at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2016.

For the inaugural award, an emerging poet of distinction will be nominated by the eminent jury, comprising renowned poets like Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Ashok Vajpayee, Namita Gokhale,Sanjoy K. Roy, and Jaiprakash Sethia and Siddharth Sethia of KL Sethia Foundation.

The winner of the award will be announced at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2016 which takes place between 21stand 25th January, 2016 at the Diggi Palace Hotel in Jaipur.

On the announcement of the award, Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts& Producer ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “Every year it is our endeavor to provide a democratic platform to young artists, writers and poets to showcase their talent at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival. The introduction of the Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for Poetry will recognize and reward extraordinary work in poetry. Last year there was a lot of focus on poetry with one of our themes being ‘Poetic Imagination’ and this year we have taken another step to promote and appreciate the art form.”

Jaiprakash Sethia of KL Sethia Foundation said, “Shri Sethia had the rare distinction of becoming a legend during his life time,conservatively estimating more than 15 million people globally were aware of Sethia ji and his body of work in literature.”