DHAKA, Jan 25, 2024 (BSS) - The name of 16 individuals have been announced for the Bangla Academy Literary Award-2023 for their notable contributions to various aspects of Bangla literature. 

This year, the awards will be given in 11 categories-poetry, fiction, essay/research, translation, drama, children's literature category, Liberation War, Bangabandhu, environment/science field, biography and folklore.

Among these, fiction, drama, folklore, Liberation War and Bangabandhu categories will be awarded jointly, said a Bangla Academy press release today. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the awards at the inaugural ceremony of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair-2024 scheduled to begin on February 1, said the release.

The award recipients are Shamim Azad (poetry), Novelists Nuruddin Jahangir and Salma Bani (jointly in fiction), Zulfikar Matin (essay/research), Saleha Chowdhury (translation), Playwrights Mrittika Chakma and Masud Pathik (jointly in drama), Tapankar Chakrabarty (children's literature), Afroza Parvin and Asaduzzaman Asad (research on the Liberation War), Saifullah Mahmud Dulal and Md Mojibur Rahman (research on Bangabandhu), ornithologist Inam Al Haque (environment/science field), Ishak Khan (biography) and Tapan Bagchi and Suman Kumar Das (jointly in folklore).