Amrita Pritam

 Introduction

Amrita Pritam (31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent (famous) figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of work comprised (consist of) over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were all translated into several Indian and foreign languages.

Pritam is best remembered for her poignant (poinant sad) poem, Ajj aakhaan Waris Shah nu (Today I invoke Waris Shah – "Ode (a lyric poem) to Waris Shah"), an elegy(of serious reflection) to the 18th-century Punjabi poet. As a novelist, her most noted work was Pinjar ("The Skeleton", 1950), in which she created her memorable character.