Media Release
Mangaluru, Jan 3: Poet Prakash Dattaram Naik has been awarded Kavita Trust's Mathias Family Poetry Award for the year 2023. The award is worth Rs 25,000 and includes a memento and a citation. The award will be presented to him on January 14, at the 18th edition of Kavita Fest to be held in St Philomena Campus at Puttur.
Prakash Dattaram Naik was born on December 22, 1962 in Raibandar, Goa. After graduating from the University of Mumbai, he worked as a teacher and now lives a retired life.
He started writing poems at an early age and has published four collections of poems - Chaitar (1987), Kasturgandh (2005), Kutall (2015), and Modkul (2022). He has also published prose books such as 'Asturi -Shimebhailem Malab' (2014), 'Sagrasangeet' (2022), 'Tamb Surya Hanv' (Digital E-Book - 2022). He has written plays, short stories, songs, and science fiction plays. His poems are taught in secondary and higher secondary schools in Goa.
Prakash Dattaram Naik
Joseph Mathias & Fly
He has produced short films like 'Tum ani Hanv' (Konkani), 'Sangharsh' (Hindi), 'Sulus Mukhavelea Tsunamichi' (Konkani), 'The Survival' (English). His films have been screened at international film festivals.
He has participated in poetry sessions and seminars organized by various institutions like All India Konkani Parishad, All India Radio, Goa Doordarshan, Institute Menezes Braganza, Kala Academy, Konkani Akademi and Sahitya Akademi.
He has been awarded the Konkani Bhasha Mandal, Goa Award (Chaitar- 1988), (Kutall - 2016), V M Salgaonkar Award (1990) - and many others.
The Kavita Trust’s Mathias Family Poetry Award was instituted by Joseph Mathias of Kuppepadvu, near Mangaluru, who is the managing director of Merit Freight Systems, LLC, Dubai, on behalf of his family. Previously, the award has been given to fifteen poets from Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, and Mumbai. Prakash Dattaram Naik is the 16th in this list.