On January 31, 2020, Padma Shri awardee and renowned Punjabi novelist, Dalip Kaur Tiwana passed away at the age of 84 due to old age ailments. She was well known for novels ‘Teeli da Nishaan’ and ‘Sooraj te Samandar’. She was also a former president of the Punjabi Sahit Akademi.
Key Points:
Dalip Kaur Tiwana ( 4 May 1935 – 31 January 2020) was a novelist and short-story writer of contemporary Punjabi literature. She won awards, both regional and national, and was a widely translated author. She retired as Professor of Punjabi, and Dean, Faculty of Languages, from Punjabi University, Patiala.

BIOGRAPHY
Dalip Kaur Tiwana was born on 4 May 1935 in the village of Rabbon in the Ludhiana district of Punjab in a well-to-do land-owning family. She was educated at Patiala, where her uncle, Sardar Sahib Tara Singh Sidhu was Inspector General of Prisons. She had a distinguished academic career. She earned first class honors in the pursuit of her M.A., and then received a PhD degree from the Panjab University, Chandigarh.In 1963, she joined the Punjabi University, Patiala as a Lecturer and then went on to become Professor and Head of the Department of Punjabi, and Dean, Faculty of Languages. She was also a UGC National Lecturer for a year.She was married to sociologist and Poet and Professor Bhupinder Singh and has a son Dr Simranjit Singh, who is an Assistant Professor of Electronics and Communication at Punjabi University. Dr. Tiwana lived with her family on the campus of Punjabi University, Patiala, where she was life fellow and writer-in-residence.

Awards:

She won Padma Shri in 2004 for literature and education. She also won several other prominent awards which includes Sahitya Akademi Award in 1971 for novel Eho hamara jivan, Saraswati Samman in 2001 for novel Katha Kaho Urvashi etc.

Returning Padma shri award:

Dalip also returned her Padma Shri award in 2015 to express solidarity with writers who were protesting against the suppression of freedom of expression and communalism.

Autobiography:-
1.Nange Pairaan da safar
2.Poochte ho to suno
3,Turdyaan turdyaan

Due to her contribution on punjabi language, the university had provided her residence even after retirement as a ‘writer in residence’.