New Delhi: Distinguished litterateurs Amrita Pritam and Prof U R Anantha Murthy have been elected fellows of the Sahitya Akademi, the highest honour conferred by the State-run body on a writer.

The fellowship, limited to 21 'immortals of literature' at a time, would be formally conferred on the Gyanapith Awardees at the inaugural of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Akademi on November 1 by the Prime Minister.

The fellowships have also been awarded to distinguished Bengali poet and writer Sankha Ghosh, eminent Rajasthani and Hindi writer Vijay Dan Detha and Telugu linguist and scholar Prof Bh Krishnamurti, Akademi Secretary K Satchidanandan said today (Oct 04, 2004).

Prof Anantha Murthy, known for his writings in Kannada was awarded the Gyanpith in 1995, was formerly the Vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam and the chairman of the National Book Trust. His body of published work comprises a rich variety of popular novels, short stories, poems and also essays.

Eighty-five year old reclusive Punjabi poetess and writer Amrita Pritam was awarded the Gyanpith in 1982 for her works that have been translated into Hindi, English and several other languages. She has published over 70 books including novels, short stories and poetry.