Kathana (Jaagatika Kannadigara KooTa)

Kathana (Jaagatika Kannadigara KooTa)da paravaagi namaskaaragaLu.

Who are we?
‘Kathana’ (Jaagatika Kannadigara KooTa) is a group of like minded Kannadaabhimaani software engineers from across the globe. We are determined to do something useful for Kannada literature. We conducted State level Katha Spardhe this year with an intention of creating a platform for budding Kannada writers.

How was the Katha Spardhe conducted?
Katha spardhe was initiated in October end. Here is the first paper report that we published regarding the competition. http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/news/2005/10/27/kathe.html

We are partnering with 'Raghavendra Prakaashana' of Ankola (Uttara Kannada) to conduct the competition. ‘Kathana’ is funding the competition. The ground work is done by the publisher. The term ground work includes, but not limited to, giving paper reports, deciding and interfacing with the judges, maintaining the database of stories, announcing the results in paper, publishing the book of winning stories and organizing the book releasing and prize distribution function, etc.

We received 200+ stories from nooks and corner of Karnataka. We formed 2 panels of judges (All judges are distinguished writers or critics and we are not revealing their name as a matter of policy). We identified 12 winners. For the complete list of the winners please follow this link - http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/news/2006/04/11/kathana_ugadi.html

The book is published by Raghavendra Prakashana and the book release function (a day long literary event) was held on April 16h in Ankola. Please follow this link to read more about the book releasing function.
http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/news/2006/04/15/ankola.html

What are the details of the book?
The book contains 12 winning stories and is of 144 pages. The book price is 70 Rs. The book will be available in all the leading book stores (Sapna, Ankita etc.) once it is released. We are currently exploring the options of selling the book through our network, so that readers won’t have to go to a book store to get the book. We will let you know the details once we finalize our marketing strategy.

Please write to Kathana.qns@gmail.com to reserve your book.

How is this initiative different from others?
There are few other State level competitions which are conducted by some leading Kannada newspapers. However this is the first time that the book releasing and prize distribution functions are held on the same day.

One of our distinguished judges opined that this Katha Spardhe is conducted in a more professional manner than any other Katha Spardhe held so far. All the stories have gone through rigorous scrutiny and the final 25 stories have been evaluated by two panels of judges.

This is a non-profit initiative taken by a group of young software engineers (40+ members) to do something tangible in the field of Kannada Literature. We need your support to make this successful.