Shantinath Desai

Shantinath Desai
Native name	ಶಾಂತಿನಾಥ ದೇಸಾಯಿ
Born	Shantinath Kuberappa Desai (1929-07-22)22 July 1929 Haliyal, Karnataka, India
Died	26 March 1998(1998-03-26) (aged 69) Kolhapur
Resting place	Kolhapur
Occupation	Writer, Professor
Language	Kannada and English
Education	MA, PhD
Alma mater	Karnataka University Dharwad
Genre	Fiction
Literary movement	Navya
Years active	1955-1998
Notable works	Mukti and Om Namo
Notable awards	Sahitya Akademi Award 2000
Spouse	Sumitra Desai
Children	Four Daughters

Shantinath Desai/ಶಾಂತಿನಾಥ ದೇಸಾಯಿ (1929–1998) was one of the leading modern authors of the Navya (modernist) movement in Kannada Literature.

In most of his novels, short stories, and essays, Desai explores the challenges of a changing society and its drift from traditional values. His first novel, Mukti (1961), narrates the protagonist's quest for an independent identity, liberation from the influence of a friend and his infatuation with the friend's sister. The second novel, Vikshepa (1971), tells the story of a village youth from northern Karnataka, who attempts to flee from his traditional environment by studying English in Bombay and later relocating to England. He was one of the best known writers in the genre of short stories in Kannada literature, which includes other prominent writers like U. R. Anantha Murthy, Yashwant Chittal, P. Lankesh, Ramachandra Sharma, Rajalakshmi Rao, and K. Sadashiva.

His novel Om Namo (Obeisance) won the Sahitya Akademi Award. Desai's important works include Mukti (Liberation) and Beeja (The Seed).

Shantinath Desai was also a professor of English at Shivaji University in Kolhapur, and later became the first vice chancellor of the then newly founded Kuvempu University in Shimoga. He has written seven novels and eight short story collections of which Rakshasa (1977) received the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award. His novels and stories have been frequently translated into various regional languages. He also published a book of critical works in English.

ENGLISH WORKS

• Experimentation with Language in Indian Writing in English [Fiction] (1974)

• Babhani Bhattacharya (1974)

• Santha Ramrao (1975)

• Indian Poetry Today [Kannada Poetry] (1976)

About Him/His Literature

• Shantinath Desai Vachike - Ed: Ramachandra Deva /ಶಾಂತಿನಾಥ ದೇಸಾಯಿ ವಾಚಿಕೆ - ಸಂ: ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ ದೇವ (2011)

• Shantinath Desai - G. S. Amur/ಶಾಂತಿನಾಥ ದೇಸಾಯಿ - ಜಿ.ಎಸ್.ಆಮೂರ [English/Kannada] (2000)

• Shantinath Desai - Preeti Shubhachandra/ಶಾಂತಿನಾಥ ದೇಸಾಯಿ - ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಶುಭಚಂದ್ರ (2005)

• Shantinath Desai Avara Sahitya - Ed: Giraddi Govindraj/ಶಾಂತಿನಾಥ ದೇಸಾಯಿ - ಸಂ: ಗಿರಡ್ಡಿ ಗೇೂವಿಂದರಾಜ

• Muktachanda - Special Issue on Him by "Sanchaya" Literary Magazine/ಮುಕ್ತಛಂದ - ದೇಸಾಯಿಯವರ ಕುರಿತು "ಸಂಚಯ" ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯಿಕ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಯ ವಿಶೇಷ ಸಂಚಿಕೆ

Shantinath Desai is remembered for his works such as Mukti, Om Namo, Srishti and Beeja (Novels) and short stories like Kshitija, Naanan Tirthayatre, Ganda Satta Mele, Manjugadde, Dande, Parivartane, Kurmavatara, Rakshasa, Nadiya Neeru, Hero, Bharamya Hogi Nikhilanagiddu, Digbhrame and other works. His readers and admirers feel that he deserved more honours and recognition than he actually received. He got Sahitya Akademi Award posthumously for his novel Om Namo in 2000. He is considered as one of the important writers in modern Kannada literature.((citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Collection of Stories

• Manjugadde - 1959

• Kshithija - 1966

• Dande - 1971

• Rakshasa - 1977

• Parivarthane - 1982

• Aayda Kathegalu - 1987 (Text Edition)

• Koormavathara - 1988

• Aayda Kathegalu - 2007

• Samagra Kathegalu - 2001 (An Anthology of Complete Short Stories)

Novels

• Mukti - 1961 (Translated in all the 14 Indian Languages by National Book Trust)

• Vikshepa - 1973

• Srushti - 1979

• Sambandha - 1982

• Beeja - 1983

• Antarala - 1993

• Om Namo - 1999 (Translated in all the 14 Indian Languages by Sahitya Akademi)

Criticism

• Sahitya Mattu Bhaashe - 1980

• Kannada Kadambari Nadedu Banda Teething - 1989

• Gangadhar Chittalara Kavyasrushti (Ed) - 1987

• Navya Sahitya Darshana - 1989

• M. N. Roy - 1994

Translations

• Avasthe

• Kranthi Bantu Kranthi

• Mee

• Rathachakra

• Premchand

English Works

• Experimentation with Language in Indian Writing in English (Fiction)

• Babhani Bhattacharya

• Santha Ramrao

• Indian Poetry Today (Kannada)

• Contemporary Indian Short Stories

Awards

1. Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection "Rakshasa" (1978)
2. Sahitya Akademi Award for "Om Namo" (2000)
3. The Ideal Teacher Award by the Government of Maharashtra
4. Rajyotsava Award by Government of Karnataka
5. Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement (1984)
6. Sudha Magazine Award for his novel "Sambandha" (1982)