Entries invited for Sahitya Puraskar award The Kala Academy has decided to give literary awards (Sahitya Puraskar) of Rs 10,000 each to a selected Marathi and Devnagari Konkani book written by Goan writers and published during the calendar year 1999.

The last date for submission of entries in the prescribed format has been extended to September 25, 2000. Any Goan writer who has not received the literary award (Sahitya Puraskar) of Kala Academy twice in the same language will be eligible to submit entries in the prescribed format alongwith four copies of the book published within the period from January 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999 and two recent passport size photographs.

Literary institutions and individual publishers will also be free to submit their entries on behalf of any Goan writer for a particular literary work provided the same are furnished in the prescribed format alongwith the bio-data photographs of the writer and copies of the book.

As per the details of the scheme, the awards will be given on the basis of the evaluation of literary value of the works and hence there shall not be any section like novel, story, poetry etc. From this year onwards, a small change in the rules of the scheme of literary awards is effected.

Accordingly, original works including edited, translations, compilations and critical will be accepted for consideration to select the literary awards.

The Kala Academy will award a cash prize of Rs 10,000, a memento and certificate to the author of the selected book in Konkani and Marathi written by Goan writers during the aforesaid period. The Kala Academy has appealed to all the interested Goan writers, publishers, literary institutions to submit their entries within the stipulated time.

The detailed information regarding the scheme and the entry form in the prescribed format are available free of charge in the Programme & Development Section of Kala Academy during office hours on any working day.

(Gaspar Almeida)