LAHORE: The Punjab Institute of Language, Art & Culture (Pilac), like previous years, will award “Pilac Best Book Award” to the best books published in the Punjabi language between January to December 2023 in prose, poetry, research and criticism categories.

The institute executes different projects for the promotion of the Punjabi language, arts and culture. It also acts as a publishing house having published about 85 titles of books, including the biggest dictionary of Punjabi language consisting of seven volumes.

The award also carries cash prizes with the first prize of Rs100,000, the second of Rs75,000 and the third prize of Rs5,0000. The competitors have been asked to submit four copies of their published books to the institute by Sept 30 with their profiles, mentioning the relevant category.

The final decision would rest with the jury decided by the institution, comprising three judges for each category, that would be duly notified.

The awards would be conferred on the authors in a grand ceremony to acknowledge their literary contributions to the Punjabi language.

The institute is also gearing up for theatrical performances by teams from different colleges and universities. It will first scrutinise the scripts of the plays. The institute will also hold visual art exhibitions by young artists at the Punjab Art Gallery.

Pilac grants awards to the best books published in Punjabi language on an annual basis.

During the previous years, hundreds of Punjabi books have been awarded cash prizes to encourage Punjabi language writer, poets and intellectuals.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2024