Eminent Konkani writer Mahabaleshwar Sail has been honoured with the Saraswati Samman 2016 for his novel Hawthan .
The 74-year-old’s novel was shortlisted out of 22 books written in as many languages.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 15 lakh and a citation. Mr. Sail is a bilingual writer who has four Marathi dramas and seven Konkani novels to his credit. He has also written five short stories and a novel in Marathi.
The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any 22 Indian language listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. It is named after an Indian goddess of learning and is considered to be among the highest literary awards in India.
The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation. It consists of Rs 15 lakh, a citation and a plaque. Candidates are selected from literary works published in the previous ten years by a panel that included scholars and former award winners.
The inaugural award was given to Harivanshrai ‘Bachchan’ for his four volume autobiography, Kya Bhooloon Kya Yaad Karoon, Needa Ka Nirman Phir, Basere Se Door and Dashdwar se Sopan Tak.
| Year | Recipient | Work | Language |
| 1991 | Harivansh Rai Bachchan | Autobiography in four volumes (Autobiography) |
Hindi |
| 1992 | Ramakant Rath | “Sri Radha” (Poetry) |
Oriya |
| 1993 | Vijay Tendulkar | “Kanyadaan” (Play) |
Marathi |
| 1994 | Harbhajan Singh | “Rukh Te Rishi” (Poetry collection) |
Punjabi |
| 1995 | Balamani Amma | “Nivedyam” (Poetry collection) |
Malayalam |
| 1996 | Shamsur Rahman Faruqi | “She`r-e Shor-Angez” | Urdu |
| 1997 | Manubhai Pancholi | “Kurukshetra” | Gujarati |
| 1998 | Shankha Ghosh | “Gandharba Kabita Guccha” (Poetry collection) |
Bengali |
| 1999 | Indira Parthasarathy | “Ramanujar” (Play) |
Tamil |
| 2000 | Manoj Das | “Amruta Phala” (Novel) |
Oriya |
| 2001 | Dalip Kaur Tiwana | “Katha Kaho Urvashi” (Novel) |
Punjabi |
| 2002 | Mahesh Elkunchwar | “Yugant” (Play) |
Marathi |
| 2003 | Govind Chandra Pande | “Bhagirathi” (Poetry collection) |
Sanskrit |
| 2004 | Sunil Gangopadhyay | “Pratham Alo” (Novel) |
Bengali |
| 2005 | K. Ayyappa Panicker | “Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal” (Poetry collection) |
Malayalam |
| 2006 | Jagannath Prasad Das | “Parikrama” (Poetry collection) |
Oriya |
| 2007 | Naiyer Masud | “Taoos Chaman Ki Myna” (Short stories collection) |
Urdu |
| 2008 | Lakshmi Nandan Bora | “Kayakalpa” (Novel) |
Assamese |
| 2009 | Surjit Paatar | “Lafzan Di Dargah” | Punjabi |
| 2010 | S. L. Bhyrappa | “Mandra” | Kannada |
| 2011 | A. A. Manavalan | “Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum” | Tamil |
| 2012 | Sugathakumari | “Manalezhuthu” (Poetry collection) |
MALAYALAM |
| 2013 | Govind Mishra | “Dhool Paudho Par” (Novel) |
|
| 2014 | Veerappa Moily | “Ramayana Mahanveshanam” (Poetry) |
Kannada |
| 2015 | Padma Sachdev | “Chitt-Chete” (Autobiography) |
Dogri |
| 2016 | Mahabaleshwar Sail | “Hawthan” (Novel) |
Konkani |
