The KATHA AWARDS were instituted in 1990.
Katha requests an eminent writer, scholar or critic in each of the regional languages to choose what she/he feels are the three best stories published in that language, in the previous year.
Our Nominating Editors sift through numerous journals and magazines that promote short fiction. Many of them consult their friends or other Friends of Katha in the literary world to help them make their nominations. The nominated stories are translated and from these are chosen the Prize Stories.
Each author receives the KATHA AWARD FOR CREATIVE FICTION which includes a citation, Rs 2000, and publication (in translation) in that year's Katha Prize Stories volume.
The editor of the regional language journal that first published the award winning story receives the KATHA JOURNAL AWARD.
The translators are handpicked from the list of nearly 3000 names we have at Katha. Each of them gets the KATHA AWARD FOR TRANSLATION which includes a citation, Rs 2000, and the chance to translate a prize story.

The A K RAMANUJAN Award goes to a translator who can, with felicity, translate between two or more Indian languages, as Ramanujan himself was able to. A K Ramanujan was a Friend of Katha and this award was instituted in 1993.

The Kathakaari Award goes to a writer who renders the stories from our folklore and oral traditions into the written form, thereby making the stories available to future generations.

The Kathavachak Award goes to a storyteller who with creativity and elan recreates folk tales from the oral tradition as stories to live our lives by.
Every year or so, Katha holds a literary workshop. The award winning writers, translators and editors are invited to it.

10 Volumes of the Prize Winning Stories have been published so far.