Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
International

Obama To Present National Humanities Medal To Jhumpa Lahiri

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Sep, 2015 12:52 PM
    Pulitzer Prize winning Indian-American author is one of the 10 distinguished recipients of the 2014 National Humanities Medal, to be prsented by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on September 10.
     
    Lahiri has been awarded the medal "for enlarging the human story", according to the White house citation. "In her works of fiction, Lahiri has illuminated the Indian-American experience in beautifully wrought narratives of estrangement and belonging."
     
    The medal honors an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens' engagement with history and literature or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to cultural resources.
     
    The White House citation is accompanied by an article on Lahiri written by Elizabeth Word Gutting, a writer based in Washington and the programme director of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation.
     
    Lahiri's novel "The Lowland" was among the books Obama took with him while vacationing in Martha's Vineyard, an island summer resort in Massachusetts, last month.
     
    "The Lowland" is a story about two brothers who grew up in Calcutta in the 1960s. After one is killed, the other marries his pregnant widow and moves to the US. The New York Times calls the premise of this novel "startlingly operatic".
     
    Other awardees include historians, writers, a philosopher, scholar, preservationist, food activist and an education course.
     
    The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) manages the nominations process for the National Humanities Medal on behalf of the White House.
     
    "The National Endowment for the Humanities is proud to join President Obama in celebrating the achievements of these distinguished medalists," said NEH chairman William Adams.
     
    "The recipients of this medal have sparked our imaginations, ignited our passions, and transformed our cultural understanding. They embody how the humanities can serve a common good."
     
    The first National Humanities Medal was awarded in 1996. Since then, 175 have been bestowed to 163 individuals and 12 organizations inclusive of this year's recipients.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Hate Crime: Indian American Man In New Jersey Attacked Viciously, Community Calls For Zero Tolerance

    Hate Crime: Indian American Man In New Jersey Attacked Viciously, Community Calls For Zero Tolerance
    The Indian community in New Jersey has issued a message of "zero tolerance" in the wake of continuing attacks on people of Indian origin in the neighbourhood, media reported on Wednesday.

    Hate Crime: Indian American Man In New Jersey Attacked Viciously, Community Calls For Zero Tolerance

    Fiji-Born Indian Girl Pooja Priyanka To Represent Australia In 'Miss Universal'

    Fiji-Born Indian Girl Pooja Priyanka To Represent Australia In 'Miss Universal'
    "I am both humbled and honoured to be representing my country Australia in the annual pageant in Dubai this 2015," Priyanka posted on Facebook, the Fiji Times reported.

    Fiji-Born Indian Girl Pooja Priyanka To Represent Australia In 'Miss Universal'

    Burglars Again Target Indian Homes In USA

    Burglars Again Target Indian Homes In USA
    After a burglary in an Indian American home in Texas, police fear that a crime ring that targeted people of Indian descent is back in action, the media reported on Tuesday.

    Burglars Again Target Indian Homes In USA

    Bloodstained Final Moments Of Indian-Origin British Man Baljit Singh Revealed

    Bloodstained Final Moments Of Indian-Origin British Man Baljit Singh Revealed
    Forensic scientist Hazel Johnson told the Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday the victim, Baljit Singh, was stabbed with a knife before falling into the cellar at a property on Beeches Road, in Rowley Regis

    Bloodstained Final Moments Of Indian-Origin British Man Baljit Singh Revealed

    North Carolina Hindu Temple Sign Board Hit With Over 60 Shotgun Blasts

    North Carolina Hindu Temple Sign Board Hit With Over 60 Shotgun Blasts
    A sign board for a planned Hindu temple in the US state of North Carolina has been fired at, leaving over 60 holes in the sign, prompting authorities to probe the incident that has shocked the Indian community. 

    North Carolina Hindu Temple Sign Board Hit With Over 60 Shotgun Blasts

    Punjab's French Connection: French Town Saint Tropez To Install Statue Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

    Punjab's French Connection: French Town Saint Tropez To Install Statue Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
    A statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh will soon be installed in a coastal town of France following years of efforts by a historian and descendant of a French officer who served under the Sikh king

    Punjab's French Connection: French Town Saint Tropez To Install Statue Of Maharaja Ranjit Singh