Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay named Sahitya Akademi fellow

Eminent Bengali writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay has been chosen as a fellow of India's Sahitya Akademi, its highest honour for a living writer.

He was among a group of eight authors -- writing in various Indian languages -- who were selected for the honour at a meeting of the Akademi's general council in New Delhi on Saturday, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The 85-year-old writer gets the honour 33 years after the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel "Manabjamin".

Among other Bengali writers who had in the past been selected as Sahitya Akademi fellows were poets Subhas Mukhopadhyay and Nirendranath Chakraborty.

Starting his literary career with a short story in 1959, Mukhopadhayay penned his first novel "Ghoonpoka" eight years later.

Besides Sahitya Akademi award, he also won the Vidyasagar and Bankim Puroshkar.