Amitav Ghosh was conferred with the 54th Jnanpith Award for 2018 by ex-West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday. Notably, he is the first Indian writer in English to win the award. "Ghosh treads through historical settings to the modern era and weaves a space where the past connects with the present in relevant ways," Bharatiya Jnanpith said.