The Kusumagraj National Literary Award for the year 2025, instituted by Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), has been announced for renowned Odia poet Haraprasad Das.
Started in 2010, this award is conferred annually through the Kusumagraj Chair of the university to an outstanding non-Marathi poet. The award includes a cash prize of ₹1 lakh, a memento, and a citation.
In the past, eminent poets such as Chandrakant Devtale (Hindi), K. Satchidanandan (Malayalam), Sitanshu Yashaschandra (Gujarati), Surjit Patar (Punjabi), Temsula Ao (English), Vishnu Khare (Hindi), H. S. Shivaprakash (Kannada), Amitabh Gupta (Bengali), Nilim Kumar (Assamese), and Kumar Ambuj (Hindi) have been honoured with this prestigious award.
For this year’s selection, the committee chaired by YCMOU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sanjeev Sonawane, unanimously recommended the name of Odia poet Haraprasad Das.
