Sahitya Akademi president O N V Kurup on Monday presented the Akademi Awards for 2002 to twenty-two writers.

The award ceremony, though simple and unassuming, offered a glimpse of some of India's best writers who, with their unparalleled creativity, not only tried to understand and express their environment but also enriched the language they were writing in.

The award in Assamese was given to Nalinidhar Bhattacharyya, whose Mahat Oitiyya critically examines various concepts like the search for heritage and the question of identity.

Sandipan Chattopadhyay received the award in Bengali for his book Ami O Banabehari, focussing on the existence of Bengal's urban middle class.

Om Vidyarthi bagged the award for his Dogri book Trip Trip Chete, a travelogue resonating with the music of nature.

Eminent Urdu poet and lyricist Gulzar was awarded for his book Dhuan, a compilation of short stories.

Other writers who were honoured were Amit Chaudhary for his work (English), Dhruv Prabodhari Bhatt (Gujarati), Rajesh Joshi (Hindi), Sujana (Kannada), Naji Muanwar (Kashimiri),Hema Naik (Konkani), Somdev (Maithili), K G Sankara Pillai (Malayalam), Rajkumar Bhubosana (Manipuri), Mahesh Elkunchwar (Marathi), Prem Pradhan (Nepali), Sharat Kumar Mohanty (Oriya) and Harbhajan Singh Halwarvi (Punjabi).

Bharat Ojha (Rajasthani), Kashinath Mishra (Sanskrit), Hari Himthani (Sindhi), Sirpi Balasubramaniam (Tamil), Chekuri Ramarao (Telugu) were the other winners.