‘Amrutvel’ wins Sahitya Akademi Award 2022

Panaji: Maya Kharangate’s 2016 novel ‘Amrutvel’ has won the Sahitya Akademi Award in Konkani. Sahitya Akademi announced its awards for literary works in 23 languages on Thursday.
Kharangate’s ‘Amrutvel’ sheds light on the struggles of a widow in the pre-Liberation era in Goa. “It is more about the sufferings of women in a Hindu joint family. It is the struggle of the character, Sitabai, and how she raises her children after her husband’s death,” she said.
Besides highlighting the plight of widowed women, the novel also tells the story of other women of the family who participate in the freedom struggle.
The awards were also given to five other novels, seven poetry books, two short stories, three plays, two essays of literary criticism, a collection of articles, a literary history and an autobiographical essay. The award for literary work in Bengali will be announced on a later date.
The other works in Konkani that were shortlisted include Bharat Naik’s poety ‘Kavya Gatha’, Uday Mhambre’s poetry ‘Manasachya Sodant’, Kharangate’s another work ‘Oli Fantod’, Mukesh Thali’s collection of essays ‘Rang Tarang’ and R Ramnath’s poetry ‘Vistav’.
The jury members for Konkani were Devidas Kadam, N Shivdas and Paresh Narendra Kamat.
The award, in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each will be presented to the awardees at an event to be held soon.