Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jan 2: The Mathias Family Poetry Award–2025, instituted by Kavita Trust, has been conferred on Valerian D’Souza, who writes under the pen name Vally Vagga. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 25,000, a souvenir and a certificate. It will be presented by renowned Konkani writer and Jnanpith Award-winning short story writer Damodar Mauzo during the 20th Poetry Festival to be held at Mother Teresa Peace Park, St Aloysius (Deemed to be University), on January 11, 2026.
Valerian D’Souza is a Konkani-Kannada poet and short story writer known by his pen name Vally Vagga. He was born on July 27, 1947, to Peter and Mary D’Souza as their fourth child, in the small town of Vagga near Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district. At the age of 17, his first short story, Soryavarvim Churchure, was published in the weekly Raknno. Over the past six decades, he has published hundreds of poems and short stories in anthologies, magazines and websites.
His poetry collections include Dongra voili vatt (2007) and Neketram (2013). His short story collections are Jinni Konnachem? (1966), Sot ani jivit (1967), Dhull (1990) and Khandi Khuris (2015). His collection of 17 short stories titled Hegala Shilube was published in Kannada in 2013 by Abhiruchi Prakashan, Mysuru.
In 2001, his story Kadadi won first prize in the Karnataka state-level Kannada short story competition.
Apart from his literary contributions, Vally Vagga has been actively involved in the promotion of the Konkani language. He served as the first joint secretary of the Konkani Christian Association established in Mysuru and later as its president for six years. He has also been a member of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy.
He has received several honours, including the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy honorary award (2010), Konkani Kuttam Bahrain Award (2012), Daiji Dubai Award (2019) and Sandesha Sahitya Award (2020). In 2020, the Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Karnataka, produced a seven-minute documentary on his Konkani-Kannada literary contributions under the direction of Naginibharana. In November 2020, he was honoured with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award by the chief minister of Karnataka, which included a cash prize of Rs 1 lac and a gold medal weighing 20 grams.
The Kavita Trust’s Mathias Family Poetry Award was instituted by Joseph Mathias of Kuppepadavu near Mangaluru, managing director of Merit Freight Systems LLC, Dubai, in his family’s name. So far, the award has been presented to 17 poets from Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Vally Vagga is the 18th recipient of the honour.