National Sahitya Akademi Awards

21 names in different categories have been announced for National Sahitya Akademi Awards this year, carrying a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and an engraved copper plaque, which will given away at a special function on 17th February, 2009.
Novelists: 1. Govind Mishra (Hindi) for his novel "Kohre Mein Kaid Rang" 2. Rita Choudhury (Assamese) 3. Vidya Sagar Narzary (Bodo) 4. Srinivas B Vaidya (Kannada) 5. Ashok Kamat (Konkani) 6. Shyam Manohar (Maratghi) 7. Mitter Sain Meet (Punjabi)

Poets: 1. Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay (Bengali) 2. Champa Sharma (Dogri) 3. A O Memchoubi (Manipuri) 4. Pramod Kumar Mohanty (Oriya) 5. Om Prakash Pande (Sanskrit) 6. Jayant Parmer (Urdu)

Short Story Writers: 1. Suman Shah (Gujarati) 2. Shri 'Kirat' (Nepali) 3. Dinesh Panchal (Rajasthani) 4. Badal Hembam (Santhali) 5. Melanmai Ponnusamy (Tamil)

Critics: 1. K P Appan, a well-known critic who died earlier this month, won the award for his collection essays in Malayalam, "Madhuram Ninte Jeevitham". 2. Nabi Aatash (Kashmiri Writer) 3. Hiro Shewkani (Sindi Writer)


The academy is not giving the award for English as no book was found eligible for the honour, while award for Maithili and Telugu will be announced later.