ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born at Jorhat in Assam on 2nd July, 1946, to Girish and Indira Dutta, Shri Dutta completed his Senior Cambridge from the Lawrence School, Sanawar, and B.A. and M.A. from Ramjas College and Delhi University. He returned to Assam to take up teaching for sometime even as he commenced his writing career. With his books such as The Kaziranga Trail and Unicornis attaining success at a global level, he could give up teaching and take to full time writing and freelance journalism.
His longer works of fiction include The Anagarika’s Swansong, The Bag, Red Camellia - Green and The Ahoms, the last being an imaginative account of a dynasty which ruled the Brahmaputra Valley for six hundred years. His novels have received critical acclaim both at home and abroad. Based as they are on meticulous, investigative research and documentation, his non-fiction books for adults exhibit the true journalistic ethos and also testify to his scholarship and erudition. These include The Brahmaputra (published by the National Book Trust, India and formally released by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at New Delhi), Unicornis – The Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros (formally released by animal-activist Smt. Maneka Gandhi in New Delhi), The Final Frontier, The Roving Minstrel, Cha-Garam, Hammer Blow, Pothorughat, Gauhati High Court- History and Heritage, etc.
His longer works of fiction include The Anagarika’s Swansong, The Bag, Red Camellia - Green and The Ahoms, the last being an imaginative account of a dynasty which ruled the Brahmaputra Valley for six hundred years. His novels have received critical acclaim both at home and abroad. Based as they are on meticulous, investigative research and documentation, his non-fiction books for adults exhibit the true journalistic ethos and also testify to his scholarship and erudition. These include The Brahmaputra (published by the National Book Trust, India and formally released by then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at New Delhi), Unicornis – The Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros (formally released by animal-activist Smt. Maneka Gandhi in New Delhi), The Final Frontier, The Roving Minstrel, Cha-Garam, Hammer Blow, Pothorughat, Gauhati High Court- History and Heritage, etc.
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Arup Kumar Dutta receives D. Litt (honoris causa) by the Gauhati University Arup Kumar Dutta receives the Padmashri Award from the President of India Ram Nath Kovind
Throughout he has also engaged in freelance media journalism, writing satiric columns under pseudonyms, as well as editorials and articles on ecological conservation, exigent social issues and themes related to North-East India which have appeared in various national and regional newspapers and periodicals.
Shri Dutta also writes for young adults and is one of the biggest names in India in this genre. His 17 adventure novels for young people include The Kaziranga Trail, The Blind Witness, Smack, Trouble at Kolongjan, Revenge, Lure of Zangrila, Footprints in the Sand, The Boy who became King, A Story About Tea, The Crystal Cave, The Counterfeit Treasure, Oh, Deer, Save the Pool etc. His books have been translated to many Indian languages as well as foreign languages such as German, Japanese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian etc. the latest being La Mano di Pietra (The Counterfeit Treasure) in Italian by Altrimondi publishers. Two have been brought out in Japanese Braille. Three of his books have been made into feature films --- The Kaziranga Trail into the film “Rhino” directed by Shashank Shankar, The Blind Witness into “Netraheen Sakshi” directed by Nabendu Ghose and Revenge into “Pratisodh.”
His books have been widely reviewed in India and abroad, the renowned Indophile Dr. V. Chernyshov’s article titled ‘Arup Kumar Dutta --- The Man and His Writings’ in the Russian magazine Detskaya Literatura; by Chitose Suzuki in Japanese journals etc. being examples of the latter. Two of his books are featured in the ‘Literature of the World’ series brought out by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun in October 2, 2001 along with those of Satyajit Ray and Ruskin Bond and his Kaziranga Trail is one of the three entries from India included in the New York publication 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up edited by Julia Eccleshare.
In 2004 the Government of India appointed him Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Centre, Jakarta, and Indian Cultural Centre, Bali, with the rank of a Counselor, the Embassy of India, Jakarta, Indonesia, a post he held for four years.
In his five decade career as an author Shri Dutta has received numerous awards, being the first recipient of the Shankar’s Award in 1979. He has also been given the Journalist Welfare Foundation, New Delhi Award (1982), The Kamal Kumari National Award for Journalism (2004), The Lifetime Achievement Honour by Association of Writers and Illustrators for Children, New Delhi, the Indian chapter of the International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) etc.
In 2018 he was conferred a D. Litt (honoris causa) by the University of Dibrugarh. In the same year the Government of India conferred on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India.
In 2020 he was conferred a D. Litt (honoris causa) by the Gauhati University.
In 2023, the Assam government awarded Shri Dutta with the prestigious Madhavdev Award.
Currently he is based at Guwahati in Assam, India with his wife Rupa, while his daughter Paloma, son Arnab and daughter-in-law Susmita work in Delhi. His son-in-law Ved teaches in Shanghai.
