Renowned Hindi writer Vinod Kumar Shukla dies at 88

Vinod Kumar Shukla, renowned Hindi writer, poet and novelist, died in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur on Tuesday. He was 88.

Shukla died at 4.58 pm at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences in Raipur due to multiple organ infection and organ failure, The Indian Express quoted the hospital’s Public Relations Officer Laxmikant Choudhary as saying.

The writer was admitted to the hospital on December 2.

Shukla is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.

The writer, born in Rajnandgaon district in 1937, published his first poetry collection, Lagbhag Jaihind, in 1971. He subsequently wrote several novels, including Naukar Ki Kameez, Khilega To Dekhenge, Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi and Ek Chuppi Jagah.

Naukar ki Kameez was later made into a film of the same title by director Mani Kaul, while Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1999. Shukla also received the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature in 2023.

Earlier this year, Shukla was conferred the 59th Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour in the country, for his contributions to Hindi literature. Shukla became the first person from Chhattisgarh to receive the award.

“His writings are known for their simplicity, sensitivity and unique writing style,” the Bharatiya Jnanpith, which gives out the award, had said at the time. “…His poems and stories present the nuances of a common life in simple language.”

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