Acharya Shivpujan Sahay

Acharya Shivpujan Sahay was a noted Hindi novelist, editor and prose writer.

Shivpujan Sahay was born Bholanath in a middle class Kayastha land-owning family in the Unwans village of Bhojpur District on August 9, 1893.

Acharya Shivpujan Sahay's Letter to Ramesh Chandra Jha

After his early education and a short stint as a Hindi language teacher at Ara (1903–1921), Acharya Shivpujan Sahay went to Kolkata and joined Matwala as an Editor in 1923. He moved to Lucknow in 1924 to join the editorial department of Madhuri where he worked with noted Hindi author Munshi Premchand and edited his Rangbhumi and some of his other stories.

In 1925, he returned to Calcutta and engaged in editing short-lived journals such as Samanway, Mauji, Golmal,Upanyas Tarang. Finally, Sahay moved to Varanasi (Kāśi) to work as a freelance editor. For a short period in 1931, he went to Sultanganj near Bhagalpur to edit Ganga. However, he returned to Varanasi in 1932 where he was commissioned to edit Jagaran, a literary fortnightly brought out by Jaishankar Prasad and his circle of friends. Sahay once again found himself working with Premchand. He also went on to become a prominent member of the Nagari Pracharini Sabha and similar literary circles in Varanasi.

In 1935, he moved to Laheria Sarai (Darbhanga) to work as editor of Balak and other publications of Pustak Bhandar owned by Acharya Ramlochan Saran. In 1939, he joined Rajendra College, Chhapra as a Professor of Hindi Language. In 1946, on a year's leave, he moved to Patna to edit Himalaya, a literary monthly which was published by Pustak Bhandar owned by Acharya Ramlochan Saran.

In 1949, Sahay finally came to Patna to work as Secretary of Bihar Rashtra Bhasha Parished, a government academy where he edited and published more than 50 volumes of Hindi reference works. Later he became Director of the Parishad and compiled and edited Hindi Sahitya Aur Bihar a literary history.

His own works were compiled and published in 4 volumes of Shipujan Rachanavali (1956–59). Shivpujan Sahay is also remembered for his editing of several literary commemoration volumes, chiefly Dwivedi Abhinandan Granth (1933),Anugrah Abhinandan Granth (1946), Rajendra Abhinandan Granth (1950) and Jayanti Smarak Granth (1942). He also edited Dr. Rajendra Prasad's Atmakatha. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1960.

Stories and novels

• Wey Din Wey Log - 1963
• Kahani Ka Plot - 1965
• Mera Jeevan - 1985
• Smritishesh - 1994
• Hindi Bhasha Aur Sahitya - 1996
• Gram Sudhar - 2007
• Dehati Duniya - 1926
• Vibhuti - 1935
• Mata Ka Anchal

Thyagamurthi nirala

Editorial works

• Dwivedi Abhinandan Granth - 1933
• Rajendra Abhinandan Granth - 1950
• Anugrah Abhinandan Granth - 1946
• Jayanti Smarak Granth - 1942
• Atmakatha
• Rangbhumi
• Samanway
• Mauji
• Golmaal
• Jagaran
• Balak
• Himalaya
• Hindi Sahitya Aur Bihar
• Madhuri

He died in Patna on January 21, 1963. His posthumously published books are Wey Din Wey Log (1965), Mera Jeevan (1985), Smritishesh (1994), Hindi Bhasha Aur Sahitya (1996), and Gram Sudhar (2007).