Key Points
• Assamese poet Nilmani Phookan Jr. and Konkani novelist Damodar Mauzo have been chosen for the 56th and 57th Jnanpith Award for their contribution to Indian literature.
• While 56th Jnanpith Award for 2021 has been bagged by Nilmani Phookan Jr., well known Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo has been honoured with the award for 2022.
• Jnanpith award is India’s highest literary award which is bestowed on the writers by the Bharatiya Jnanpith organization for their outstanding contribution to the literature.
• Jnanpith Award is given every year.
• Both Nilmani Phookan and Damodar Mauzo are the winners of the Sahitya Akademi Award.
• While Nilmani Phookan is from Guwahati in Assam, Damodar Mauzo is based out of Majorda, Goa.

Other Assamese to won the award
Assam has received the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the third time. Before Nilmani Phookan, Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya had won the award in 1979 while Mamoni Raisom Goswami was honoured in 2000.

Konkani Writer Damodar Mauzo
Damodar Mauzo, a 77 years old Konkani writer, is known for his novels including Tsunami Simon and Karmelin and the short stories including Other Stories from Goa and Teresa’s Man.

Second Konkani writer to win Jnanpith Award
Damodar Mauzo the second Konkani writer to win Jnanpith Award. Ravinder Kelelar was the first to be honoured with Jnanpith Award in 2006.

About Jnanpith Award
• Jnanpith Award was instituted in 1961. The award is given only to Indian writers who write in Indian languages included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India and English.
• In 2019, Amitav Ghosh was honored with the 54th Jnanpith Award for his contribution to English Literature.
• He became the 1st English language writer to receive the award.
• G. Sankara Kurup was the first recipient of the Jnanpith Award in 1965 for his novel ‘Odakkuzhal’ (The Bamboo Flute).
• The first woman to be awarded this award was Bengali writer Ashapoorna Devi in 1976.