Bengaluru: Senior Kannada litterateur Kamala Hemmige (71) passed away at Dharwad yesterday. A spinster, Kamala was staying with her sister in Dharwad. Born on Nov. 20, 1952 at Hemmige in Mysuru taluk, Kamala obtained her MA degree in Kannada Folklore at Mysore University and her Ph.D from Karnatak University for her thesis on Savadatti Yellamma and Devadasi practice. She had also done her PG Diploma in Translation from Mysore University.

As an employee of Akashvani, Kamala had served in Dharwad and Mangaluru and as an employee of Doordarshan, she had served in Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala before retiring from service.

She had presented talks on literature at Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelanas, interaction meets by National Book Trust among others. She is a recipient of Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, KSN Award, International Woman of the Year Literature Award given by Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Kittur Rani Chennamma Award by Karnataka Government, Sahitya Shree Award by Sahitya Academy and Masthi Kadambari Award.