ITANAGAR, 17 May: The Luminous Lummer Dai Literary Award-2025 will be jointly conferred on Ramchandra Chutia and Dr Ashok Kumar Pandey.
A selection committee, comprising chairman H Rokom Bado and members Banta Natung and Gumpi Nguso, recommended their names for the award, the Arunachal Pradesh Literary Society (APLS) said in a release.
Born in Assam’s Dhakuakhana in 1952, Chutia has authored 29 books, including eight on socio-anthropological aspects of different tribes in Arunachal. His literary works span various genres, such as poetry, novels, short stories, travelogues, articles, and memoirs, written in both Assamese and English.
Chutia began his career as a primary school teacher in Sartam village, Tali circle, in the then Subansiri district, in 1971 and retired as principal of Govt HS School, Doimukh in 2010 after 40 years of service in Arunachal, the APLS said.
Dr Ashok Pandey, an associate professor at Dera Natung Govt College, Itanagar, has written 11 books, including poetry, short stories, and drama, the release said.
Born in Uttar Pradesh in 1967, Dr Pandey is a prominent academic writer, and his five academic books are widely appreciated. He moved to Arunachal in 1992.
The award will be presented on 1 June at Lummer Dai Bhavan, Tezpur, Assam, on the occasion of the 85th birth anniversary of the doyen of Arunachal literature.
The APLS introduced the Luminous Lummer Dai Literary Award in 2016, and since then, 11 prominent writers have received this prestigious award.
