Mangaluru and Goa Poets to Receive National Charoli Honour at 5th National Konkani Charoli Literary Conference

Mangaluru, July 11: Senior Konkani poets Arundhati V. Rao of Mangaluru and Annie de Colvale of Goa have been selected for the National Charoli Honour 2026, announced Raymond D’Cunha Taccode, President of the 5th National Konkani Charoli Literary Conference.

Addressing a press conference at the Mangaluru Press Club, Raymond D’Cunha Taccode said that poets from Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Karwar, Kerala, and Dubai have registered to participate in the one-day 5th National Konkani Charoli Literary Conference, scheduled to be held in Mangaluru on July 19.

As a large number of delegates are expected to arrive a day in advance, a Kavi Goshti (Poets’ Meet) will be held from 8 a.m. and will be inaugurated by Gourish Varnekar of Canacona, Goa, a noted theatre trainer, poet, and Konkani teacher.

The inaugural session of the conference will begin at 10 a.m., with M.P. Noronha, District Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor, Mangaluru, inaugurating the event. Industrialist Vincent Coutinho will be the chief guest.

The Poets’ Meet will continue after the inaugural session. In the afternoon, students and poets will participate in an open house, engaging in discussions on literature and poetry.

The valedictory session will feature an address by Yogita Varnekar, a publisher from Goa and a Konkani mother-tongue teacher. Srinivas Nayak Indaje and Elias Fernandes will attend as guests.

Raymond D’Cunha Taccode noted that the second and fourth editions of the conference were held in Panaji, Goa, while the first and third editions were hosted in Mangaluru.

The organising committee comprises Gourish Varnekar (Madgaon, Goa) as Organising Convener, along with Vijay Pai (Kerala), Sandesh Bandekar (Karwar), Annie Fernandes (Thivim, Goa), Anagha Kamat (Panaji, Goa), Gopalakrishna Prabhu (Delhi), and Janet Vaas (Bengaluru).

Also present at the press conference were Riana D’Cunha, Secretary of the Organising Committee; Elias Fernandes, Media Advisor; and Stany Tauro, Executive Committee Member.