Bhubaneswar: Noted poet Dr Hrushikesh Mallick was appointed as the president of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi, Thursday. After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave his approval to the recommendations by the selection committee headed by Development Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena.
A notification to this effect was released by the Odia Language, Literature and Culture department, Thursday. Mallik is a trendsetter in Odia poetry writing. Over 40 books written by him have been published. Out of the 12 books were on poetry, two story collections and at least 10 books on literary criticisms.
He has been honoured with several state-level awards like Dhartri Kabita Puraskar, Bhanuji Rao Smruti Puraskar, Sarala award, Jhankar Bishuba Puraskar and Sachi Routray Kabita Puraskar.
Between 1979 and 1980, Mallick was editorial in-charge of the Sunday supplement of Odia daily Dharitri. He has been editing the literary supplement ‘Sahityana’ of Dharitri since 2014. Mallick’s poems have been translated into Hindi, English and Bengali languages.