KOCHI, March 3 -- The Sahitya Academy (National Academy of Letters) has amended its process of selection of best books by bringing in readers as juries. With effect from 2025, annual literary awards would follow the format of Padma Awards. Readers can recommend books of their choice to the Academy by online.
An Academy insider said that this was to liberate the selection process from the shackles of a cartel which has made the institution a milch cow since it was established in 1954. Over the last four decades, Academy awards have become a laughing stock in the country.
When K Sreenivasa Rao, secretary, Academy secretary, on Saturday waxed eloquence on KP Ramanunni, the Malayalam writer who authored God's Own Book, the audience at Kozhiko...