The
Sahitya Akademi first launched
Indian Literature in 1957 as an annual publication in English. In an editorial note published in the first issue, in October 1957, the editors noted that since the inception of the Sahitya Akademi in March 1954, there had been demands at every General Council meeting that a journal should be established to disseminate information about literary developments in India. The purpose of
Indian Literature, therefore, was initially established as a platform to help Indian writers and readers to become better acquainted with new literary works, particularly in translating and making accessible works of Indian literature. The editorial note also recorded that
Indian Literature would document the work of the Sahitya Akademi. From 1965 onwards, in addition to the editorial board, the journal had a designated editor, starting with Bengali author and translator,
Lokenath Bhattacharya. The current editor of the journal is
Antara Dev Sen. Previous editors include
A. J. Thomas,
K. Satchidanandan, and
H.S. Shivaprakash. Issues of
Indian Literature did not initially contain editorials, although from 1973, Keshav Malik began his tenure as editor with a prefatory note to each issue, containing general reflections on the state of Indian literature. In 1974, S. Balu Rao took over as editor from Keshav Malik, and in an editorial note, redefined the scope of
Indian Literature, focusing more on translations to and from Indian languages. Editorial notes from S. Balu Rao became a regular feature, introducing the contents of each issue, and all editors since have continued to introduce each issue with an editorial note. From 1959
Indian Literature was published bi-annually, instead of just annually, and from 1966 onwards, it became a quarterly publication. From 1979 onwards, it has been published on a bi-monthly basis. The journal completed its 50th year in 2007. On this occasion Sahitya Akademi awarded the Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Translation Awards to the following poets:- •
Rana Nayar, for his translation of the verses of the Sikh saint
Baba Farid from
Punjabi. •
Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan, for English translations of his own
Odia poem collection,
Kalahandi • Paromita Das, for English translation of
Parvati Prasad Baruwa's poems in
Assamese.
List of editors Members of the editorial board of
Indian Literature have included
K.R. Kripalani,
S. Radhakrishnan,
Humayun Kabir,
Zakir Hussain,
Suniti Kumar Chatterji,
K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar, Prabhakar Machwe, R.S. Kelkar,
Umashankar Joshi,
V. K. Gokak,
Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya,
Gangadhar Gadgil, Indra Nath Choudhuri,
U. R. Ananthamurthy, Ramakanth Rath, Gopi Chand Narang, and
Sunil Gangopadhyay. Apart from the editorial board, the journal has also had editors, listed below. == Contents and features ==