Nilamani Phookan

Nilmani Phookan (10 September 1933 – 19 January 2023) was an Indian poet in the Assamese language and an academic. His work, replete with symbolism, is inspired by French symbolism and is representative of the genre in Assamese poetry. His notable works include Surya Henu Nami Ahe Ei Nodiyedi, Gulapi Jamur Lagna, and Kobita. Phookan has won the 56th Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary award, for the year 2020. He was also awarded the 1981 Sahitya Akademi Award in Assamese for his poetry collection, Kavita (Kobita). He was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 1990, and received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest literary honor in India, given by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in 2002. Phookan was born in Dergaon in Golaghat district, Assam. He received his Master's degree in History from Gauhati University in 1961. Although he had started writing poetry in the early 1950s.