Cuttack, August 27: Internationally acclaimed poet Jayanta Mahapatra passed away while undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital here on Sunday. He was 95.
He was suffering from pneumonia. He was admitted to the hospital for last few days.
Mahapatra, a celebrated Indian poet writing in English and one of the greatest Odia litterateurs of all time, returned his Padma Shri to protest the growing “moral asymmetry” in the country in 2015. Mahapatra received the Padma Shri in 2009 for his contribution to literature.
In 1981, he became the first Indian poet writing in English to win the Sahitya Akademi award. His literary trajectory is illuminated with some of the most coveted honours including participation in the International Writing Program at Iowa (USA), holding poetry chairs in universities abroad, and getting anthologised in prestigious publications across the world.
