Gurdial Singh novelist || Documentary film || By Amar Gholia ||

Prof. Gurdial Singh was born on 10 January 1933 to father Jagat Singh and mother Nihal Kaur, in the village of Jaitu in British Punjab. He began working as a carpenter at the age of 12, a fact he revealed to the media in an interview after he received the Jnanpith Award in 2000.

He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story, Bhaganwale, which was published in Panj Darya, a magazine edited by Mohan Singh. His later stories were published in Preetlari, edited by Gurbaksh Singh. In 1964, his major work, Marhi Da Deeva, established him as a novelist. He has written ten novels, including Anhoe (1966), Addh Chanani Raat (1972), Anhe Ghore Da Daan (1976) and Parsa (1991); 12 collections of short stories, including Saggi Phull (1962), Kutta Te Aadmi (1971), Begana Pind (1985) and Kareer Di Dhingri (1991); and translated more than 30 books. His novels Marhi Da Deeva and Addh Chanani Raat have been translated into English as The Last Flicker (by Sahitya Akademi) and Night of the Half Moon (by Macmillan) respectively. The National Book Trust has also published an English translation of his novel Parsa. Apart from novels and short stories he has also written three plays, two prose works and nine books for children. He was Died on 16 August 2016.

Singh is a former college professor.

He has received approximately 17 awards including the Jnanpith Award (in 1999), the Padma Shri, the Shiromani Sahitkar Award, the Punjab Sahitya Akademi Award (1979), the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1986), the Bhai Veer Singh Fiction Award (1992), and others.

Best Fiction Book Award (Four times, in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972)
Nanak Singh Novelist Award, 1975
Sahitya Akademi Award, 1975
Punjab Sahitya Akademy Award, 1979
Soviet Land Nehru Award, 1986
Punjabi Sahitya Akademy Award, 1989
Shiromani Sahitkar Award, 1992
Bhai Veer Singh Galap Puraskar, 1992
Pash Award, 1995
Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sahitya Samellan Samman, 1997
Padam Shri, 1998
Jnanpith Literary Award 2000