Sardessai, who was born in Lisbon, teaches linguistics and is editor of Konkani magazine “Jaag”. An authority in Portuguese and French, her PhD is on similarities on Konkani and Portuguese. She had earlier won the Sahitya Akademi translation award.
Reacting to the award Sardessai said, “When I was told that my book Manthan was selected for the award, my first gut feeling was that I could have written a better book to deserve the coveted honour.”
She added, “I have deliberately chosen research as a way of enriching the literary aspects of my mother tongue, Konkani.” The award in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh that will be presented to the author at a special Festival of Letters on March 9, 2015.
