Amrita Pritam (31st August 1919 – 31st October 2005) is considered to be the first prominent Punjabi woman writer in Punjabi literature. She was one of the leading 20th century Punjabi poets and was a novelist and essayist.

She is best remembered for her elegiac poem, Aj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu (Today I invoke Waris Shah). This poem is dedicated to Waris Shah, an 18th century Punjabi poet. Her character Puro in the novel Pinjar (The Skeleton) is considered to be a representative of violence against women. This novel has been made into a movie Pinjar in 2003.

She has received Jnanpith in 1982, Padma Shri in 1969 and Padma Vibhushan in 2004. She is the first woman to receive the Sahitya Akademi Award. Doctor Dev, Kore Kagaz, Unchas Din, Sagar aur Seepian, and Rang ka Patta are her major novels. Rasidi Ticket (1976) and Shadows of Words (2004) are her autobiographies. Sunehray (Messages), Kagaz Te Kanvas and Punjabi Di Aawaaz are her poetry anthologies.

Courtesy: ‘A documentary on Amrita Pritam, Part-1’, Movie directed by Mr. Basu Bhattacharya for Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

You can buy this DVD from Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.