The Assam Valley Literary Award () was conceived in the year 1990 by ''Williamson Magor Education Trust'' to honour creative writers who have enhanced

Assamese literature Assamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the literary works in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contempor ...

. It is given to writers of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

once a year. The award was instituted by the

Williamson Magor Williamson may refer to: Places *Williamson, Arizona *Williamson, Georgia *Williamson, Illinois *Williamson, Iowa * Williamson, New York, a town in Wayne County, New York. * Williamson (CDP), New York, a hamlet and census-designated place in Wayne ...

Group, a

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

company.

History

The award was announced by Shri B.M. Khaitan, Chairman, Williamson Magor Group of Industries, Tea major at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Assam Valley School on 11 February 1990, at Harchurah in

Sonitpur district Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the district is derived from a story found ...

. The award comprises cash award, a scroll of honour made of Assam "Muga" silk and a specially designed golden trophy. This trophy has been designed by the artist of Assam, Shri Shobha Brahma.

Award winners

Year Winner *1990

Bhabendra Nath Saikia Bhabendra Nath Saikia (20 February 1932 – 13 August 2003) was a novelist, short-story writer, editor and film director from Assam, India. Saikia received his doctorate in physics from the University of London. He began his career as a reader ...

*1991

Homen Borgohain Homen Borgohain (7 December 1932 – 12 May 2021) was an Assamese author and journalist. He was awarded the 1978 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese language for his novel ''Pita Putra''. He was also the President of Assam Sahitya Sabha from 2 ...

*1992 Syed Abdul Malik *1993

Nabakanta Barua Nabakanta Barua (29 December 1926 – 14 July 2002) was a prominent Assamese novelist and poet. He was also known as Ekhud Kokaideu. As Sima Dutta he wrote many poems in his early life. Biography Early life Nabakanta Barua was born 29 Decembe ...

*1994

Jogesh Das Jogesh Das (1 April 1927 – 9 September 1999) was an Indian short-story writer and novelist from Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaput ...

*1995

Saurabh Kumar Chaliha Saurabh Kumar Chaliha (1930 – 25 June 2011) is the pen name of Assamese short story writer. His real name was Surendra Nath Medhi. His short story collection ''Ghulam'' won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1974. Chaliha did not go ...

*1996 Umakanta Sharma *1997 Nilamani Phookan *1998

Mahim Bora Mahim Bora (6 July 1924 – 5 August 2016) was a prominent Indian writer and educationist from Assam. His notable works include "Kathonibari Ghat," a collection of short stories, and "Edhani Mahir Hanhi," a novel. He was elected as a president ...

*1999

Ajit Barua Ajit, Ajith or Ajeet may refer to: * Ajit (given name) Ajit, variously spelled Ajith, Agith, or Ajeet ( ') is a common male given name. It is used in its various forms throughout India and also in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. A related name i ...

*2000

Hiren Bhattacharya Hiren Bhattacharyya (28 July 1932 – 4 July 2012), popularly known as Hiruda, was an Indian poet and lyricist best for his works in the Assamese literature. He had innumerable works published in Assamese language, Assamese and achieved many p ...

*2001 Sheelabhadra (

Rebati Mohan Dutta Choudhury Rebati Mohan Dutta Choudhury (1924 – 29 February 2008) was a noted Assamese litterateur, Sahitya Akademi Award winner and an academic from Gauripur in Assam, India. Popularly he is known as ''Sheelabhadra'', his pen name. Early life and edu ...

) *2002

Chandra Prasad Saikia Chandra Prasad Saikia (1927–2006) was a writer from Assam, India. He was the president of the Asam Sahitya Sabha held at Hajo and Jorhat district, Assam in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Saikia was born on 8 July 1927 in Jalukgaon, Jhanji in ...

*2003 Nirupama Borgohain *2004

Lakshmi Nandan Bora Lakshmi Nandan Bora (15 June 1932 – 3 June 2021) was an Indian novelist and short story writer in the Assamese language, known for over 60 books he has authored, including award winning novels, ''Patal Bhairavi'' and ''Kayakalpa''. A recipient ...

*2005

Arun Sharma (dramatist) Arun Sarma (3 November 1931 – 27 March 2017) was a writer of Assam. Arun Sarma was one of Assam's contemporary playwrights and is particularly known for his unconventional plays with some elements of drama. Besides drama, he also authored over ...

*2006

Nalinidhar Bhattacharya Nalinidhar Bhattacharya (4 December 1921 – 1 September 2016) was an Indian poet and literary critic from Assam. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his collection ''Mahat Oitijhya'' in 2002. His younger brother Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya w ...

*2007

Nagen Saikia Nagen Saikia (born 11 February 1939) is an Indian writer. He was formerly a professor of Dibrugarh University. Saikia had also been a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986-1992 and was the vice-chairman of the Upper House from 1990-1992. Saikia s ...

*2008 Rongbong Terang * 2009 Imran Shah * 2010 Harekrishna Deka * 2011 Purobi Bormudoi * 2012

Sameer Tanti Sameer Tanti (born 6 February 1955) is an Assamese language poet, storyteller, translator, painter and social worker from India. He is the 2012 winner of the Assam Valley Literary Award. TantI was born in Bihora tea estate, Golaghat. In 2024 ...

* 2013 Atulananda Goswami * 2014 Hirendra Nath Dutta * 2015 Apurba Sharma * 2016 Dr. Arupa Kalita Patangia * 2017

Sananta Tanty Sananta Tanty (4 November 1952 – 25 November 2021) was an Indian poet of Assamese literature. Tanty was born to an Odia family in Kalinagar Tea Estate. Tanty completed his secondary education at a Bengali-medium school but continued his lite ...

, Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, Dr. Rita Chowdhury

References

Indian literary awards Civil awards and decorations of Assam Assamese literature Awards established in 1990 {{lit-award-stub