Hyderabad: Ajay Kumar wins Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize 2024

Kumar was selected from among 66 competitors this year by the Mumbai-based poet Menka Shivdasani and two faculty members of the Department of English at the University of Hyderabad who constituted the jury.

Hyderabad: Ajay Kumar, a 23-year old student of English Literature, has won the Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize 2024.

Kumar was selected from among 66 competitors this year by the Mumbai-based poet Menka Shivdasani and two faculty members of the Department of English at the University of Hyderabad who constituted the jury. Neethu Krishnan, Aparna Chivukula, and Nikita Parik have been shortlisted and received special mention from the jury.

---

The 16th Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize, consisting of a citation and cash prize of Rs. 15,000, will be presented to the winner at the Hyderabad Literary Festival in January 2025.

Ajay Kumar, a Chennai-based poet, is the author of the e-chapbook, ‘balancing acts’ (Yavanika Press, 2023) and has published his poems in The Bombay Literary Magazine, Rattle, The Bombay Review, Usawa, ASAP Art, among others.

Recognised as a significant award for creative writing in India, the Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize was instituted by the Hyderabad-based Srinivas Rayaprol Literary Trust to recognize excellence in poetry written in English by poets in the age group of 20-40 years. The Prize is jointly administered by the Department of English, University of Hyderabad.