Established in 1954, the award comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000. The award’s purpose is to recognize and promote excellence in Indian writing and also acknowledge new trends. The annual process of selecting awardees runs for the preceding twelve months. The plaque awarded by the Sahitya Akademi was designed by the Indian film-maker Satyajit Ray.
Sahitya Akademi Awards 2019: Winners List
| Language | Title & Genre | Author |
| Assamese | Chanakya (Novel) | Joysree Goswami Mahanta |
| Bengali | Ghumer Darja Thele (Essays) | Chinmoy Guha |
| Bodo | Akhai Athumniphrai (Poetry) | Phukan Ch. Basumatary |
| Dogri | Bandralta Darpan (Essays) | Om Sharma Jandriari |
| English | An Era of Darkness (Non-Fiction) | Shashi Tharoor |
| Gujarati | Mojma Revu Re (Essays) | Ratilal Borisagar |
| Hindi | Chheelate Hue Apne Ko (Potery) | Nand Kishore Acharya |
| Kannada | Kudi Esaru (Autobiography) | Vijaya |
| Kashmiri | Akh Yaad Akh Qayamat (Short Stories) | Abdul AhadHajini |
| Konkani | The Words (Potery) | Nilba A Khandekar |
| Maithili | Jingik Oriaon Kariat (Poetry) | Kumar Manish Arvind |
| Malayalam | Achan Piranna Veedu (Poetry) | V Madhusoodanan Nair |
| Manipuri | EiAmadi Adungeigi Eethat (Novel) | L Birmangol Singh (Beryl Thanga) |
| Odia | Bhaswati (Short Stories) | Tarun Kanti Mishra |
| Punjabi | Antheen (Short Stories) | Kirpal Kazak |
| Rajasthani | BareekBaat (Short Stories) | Ramswaroop Kisan |
| Sanskrit | Prajnachakshusham (Poetry) | Penna Madhusudan |
| Santali | Sisirkali (Short Stories) | Kali Charan Hembram |
| Sindhi | Jeejal (Short Stories) | Ishwar Moorjani |
| Tamil | Sool (Novel) | Cho Dharman |
| Telugu | Septabhoomi (Novel) | Bandi Narayana Swamy |
| Urdu | Sawaneh-E-Sir Syed: Ek Bazadeed (Biography) | Shafey Kidwai |
PRESS RELEASE: Sahitya Akademi announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Award – 2019 in 23 languages. (Awarded Books)
