Richard Alvares and Bejai parish magazine Izoicho Kollo win Raknno Awards 2025

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 17, 2025: Renowned Konkani writer Richard Alvares from Kulshekar and the parish magazine Izoicho Kollo of St Francis Xavier Church, Bejai, were conferred with the ‘Raknno – Best Author of the Year 2025’ and ‘Raknno – Best Parish Magazine 2025’ awards respectively at a ceremony held on Sunday at Bajpe Parish Hall.

The awards were presented by the Bishop of Mangalore, Most Rev. Dr Peter Paul Saldanha, in the presence of Raknno Editor Rev. Rupesh Madtha, Rev. Andrew D’Souza, Stany D’Souza, and Prasanna D’Souza.

 

 

The programme, organized in collaboration with Bajpe Parish, began with a prayer by parishioners. Fr Rupesh Madtha welcomed the gathering, followed by an introduction of the awardees by Dr Edward Nazareth. The awardees, Richard Alvares and Izoicho Kollo editor Godwin Pinto, expressed their gratitude and shared their thoughts on the occasion.

Launched in 1938, Raknno is a bilingual Konkani-English weekly run by the Diocese of Mangalore, offering spiritual, social, cultural, and political content to readers worldwide. Since last year, it has been honouring literary excellence through its annual awards to promote Konkani literature. Submissions are invited, reviewed by a jury, and the best works are selected for recognition.

Book Releases and Writers’ Gathering

As part of the event, the Bishop released Bhorvoshachye Vater (On the Way of Hope), the 134th publication by Raknno, along with a book on St Carlo Acutis published by Mangalajyothi. Two keynote sessions followed: Rev. Francis D’Souza spoke on the history of Konkani literature, while Muddu Theerthahalli discussed reading habits in the digital era. A panel discussion on Konkani literature, moderated by Rev. Rupesh Madtha, also took place.

Guests and speakers were felicitated with mementos. Mrs Lavi Ganjimatt compered the event, Pramod Hospet coordinated logistics, and Francis D’Cunha Mulki proposed the vote of thanks. About 200 noted writers, including Dolphy Cascia, Richard Moras, Fr A. D’Lima, and Stany Bela, attended the programme, which concluded with lunch at 1 p.m.