Jammu-born poet and novelist Padma Sachdev has been chosen for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography in Dogri language. The 76-year-old writer’s autobiography ‘Chitt-Chete’, published in 2007, was selected for the 25th Saraswati Samman from among five works that were shortlisted from 22 works in as many languages published between the years 2005-2014.

The selection for the award, given every year for an outstanding literary work written in any Indian language by an Indian citizen and published during the last 10 years, is made by a jury presided by former Chief Justice Justice A S Anand. The award carries an award money of Rs 15 lakh, a citation and a plaque.

Sachdev, who writes in Hindi and native Dogri, has 60 books to her credit. She has been a recipient of Sahitya Akademi in 1971 for her book of poetry ‘Meri Kavita Mere Geet’.

In her 662-page autobiography, Sachdev has included some historic photographs with dignitaries from her state, nation and the world.

The other shortlisted books for the Saraswati Samman include,

Mrinmaya Nadam (short stories) (Telugu) by Lalitha Kumari Popuri (Volga)
Eeshani Megh O Ananya Galpo (short stories) (Bengali) by Abhijit Sen
Swapnasanhita (Poetry) (Marathi) by Yeshwant Manohar
Kahani do bang, mein khan (Short Stories) (Santhali) by Badal Hembram.

Did You Know?

The award was instituted by K K Birla Foundation, a literary and cultural organisation which has also instituted two more awards in the field of literature, including the Vyas Samman (for Hindi) and Bihari Puraskar (for Hindi and Rajasthani writers of Rajasthan).

Previous recipients of the Saraswati Samman include former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily, S L Bhyrappa, K Aiyappa Panickar, Vijay Tendulkar and Harivansh Rai Bachchan.