Five writers including four women storytellers receive Ramakant Smriti Story Award for 2019-2023

New Delhi: Five storytellers, including four women, on Saturday received the prestigious Ramakant Smriti Story Award for years 2019 to 2023 at a special ceremony at Gandhi Peace Foundation.

Writers Nirdesh Nidhi, Anju Sharma, Asha Pandey, Akhilesh Srivastava and Geeta Shri were earlier announced the winners for the award that completed 25 years of its establishment this year.

The award was not given in the last few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, award committee convenor Mahesh Darpan said.

For year 2019, Nirdesh Nidhi received the award for her story "Main Hi Aayi Hoon Baba" that was published in 'Kathadesh' magazine. For 2020, Anju Sharma was awarded for her story "The Happy Birthday of Suman Chaudhary", published in 'Hans' magazine; and Asha Pandey was awarded for 2021 for her story "Dedh Ser Chandi", published in 'Kathadesh'.

For 2022, Akhilesh Srivastava received the award for his story "Iccha" published in 'Vartaman Sahitya' and for 2023, Geeta Shri was awarded for her story "Shamshan Vairagya", published in 'Nai Dhara'.

The winners received a plaque, shawl and a cash prize.

The selection committee included senior storyteller Mahesh Katare, senior satirist-novelist Pradeep Pant, theatre artist Devendraraj Ankur, poet-translator Kewal Goswami and filmmaker Anwar Jamal.

The award is given annually to one of the best stories published in literary magazines in the memory of senior litterateur Ramakant.

Famous theatre artist Devendraraj Ankur, senior litterateur Pankaj Bisht, Ibbar Rabbi, Ramsharan Joshi, editor of 'Kathadesh' magazine Harinarayan, editor of 'Parikatha' Shankar, Siniwali Sharma, Kalpana Manorama, and Atul Prabhakar also attended the award ceremony.

Previously, the award has been given to noted writers, including Neelima Singh, Kripashankar, Ajay Prakash, Arvind Kumar Singh, Naveen Naithani, and Rakesh Tiwari.