India, Dec. 24 -- Jnanpith laureate Vinod Kumar Shukla, a doyen of Hindi literature whose extraordinary control over the language transcended form and whose minimalist prose imbued magic into the most ordinary of lifescapes, died on Tuesday evening due to age-related ailments in a government hospital in Raipur. He was 89.

Shukla, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 and the Bhartiya Jnanpith in 2025, was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raipur on December 2 after breathing difficulties. He breathed his last at 4.48pm, his family said. He is survived by his wife, son and a daughter.

According to the family, his mortal remains will be taken to his residence in Raipur, where details of the last rites will...