Renowned writer and poet Vasant R. Kushtagi died at a private hospital in Kalaburagi city on Friday. He was 85.
Prof. Kushtagi had been ailing for some time and was admitted to a private hospital after developing low blood pressure, his family confirmed.
He was a recipient of several prestigious honours including the Kannada Sahitya Academy Award and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.
Prof. Kushtagi wrote eight novels, over 30 collections of poems and several prose pieces,16 works of editing, and 22 translations.
He was selected as the president of Sedam taluk Gadi Nadu Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, the president for the first Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held at Badami taluk, and also was president of the ninth Kannada Sahitya Sammelana at Kalaburagi.
He served as Professor at Kannada Department in Nutan Vidyalaya Education Society and retired as principal. In 1995, Prof. Kushtagi got State-wide recognition after his poem Haraike got a place in the Kannada textbook for class 10 (First Language).
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa expressed grief over the demise and said that it was an “irreparable loss” to the State and the Kannada literary world. He also remembered his contribution to the Hyderabad –Karnataka [Kalyana Karnataka ] liberation movement.
