Nirupama Bargohain receives the Assam Valley literary award from Ranganathan Parthasarathy in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, March 13: Litterateur Nirupama Bargohain, recipient of this year’s Assam Valley literary award, was at her wittiest best today when she declared that a dry spell of admirable writing in Assamese literature has landed her the coveted honour.

“Assam is surely going through a dry spell in admirable writing or else I could not have bagged all these awards with my limited prowess. There is more chaff here than grain,” Bargohain said after receiving the 14th Assam Valley literary award here.

The award carries Rs 2 lakh in cash, a scroll and a trophy.

Assam cannot really boast of writers who can carry their work beyond the state’s frontiers, Bargohain added. She had received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1996 for her novel Abhijatri. “Any comparison with the writings of contemporary Indian writers would expose my poverty,” she added.

Bargohain, a towering figure among the Assamese literati, has written 30 novels, 16 short story collections, nine anthologies of non-fictional prose, three children’s fiction and three travelogues.

“Where do I really stand in comparison with the likes of Ashapurna Devi, Mahasveta Devi and others? My successful stories have not really transcended the pieces of Sneha Devi, who still remains the greatest woman short story writer in Assamese,” she said.

Bargohain said she does not mind being branded a feminist writer, but she follows her own rules.

“Though I am dubbed a feminist writer, I cannot take kindly to women like Nora in Ibsen’s Doll’s House who need to assert their freedom by leaving their husband’s house.”

Tamil litterateur Ranganathan Parthasarathy, who was the chief guest at the function, said no serious attempt has been made to bring into focus the contemporary classics in each major Indian language outside its region.

The chairman of Williamson Magor group of companies, B.M. Khaitan, senior tea executives, several state ministers and bureaucrats were present at the function.