Mangaluru: Edwin Joseph Francis D’Souza from Mangaluru and Bolwar Mohammed Kunhi from Puttur, the two well-known authors have been chosen for the prestigious Central Sahitya Akademi Award for 2016 in Konkani and Kannada languages, respectively.
Edwin D’Souza (Left) and Bolwar Mohammed Kunhi
Edwin D’Souza has won the award for the first time and has won for his book Kallem Bhangaar (Black Gold). Bolwar Mohammed Kunhi has bagged his second award for his 1,110-page Kannada work Swatantryada Ota (Run of Independence). Earlier he got it for his children’s novel Gandhi Thata Bapu hege Aadaru. This is the first time that two writers from Dakshina Kannada have been recognised for the prestigious national award in the same year.
D’Souza was born in Valencia, Mangaluru in June 1948 and studied in St Aloysius (Autonomous) College, Mangaluru. He holds a degree in commerce, a postgraduate diploma in Konkani and five online diplomas from the Bible School, US, in Christian Theology.
Kunhi was born in 1951 in a village in Puttur called Bolwaru. He is a short story writer, novelist, playwright and scriptwriter, and one of the pioneers to have introduced Muslim culture in Kannada prose.
