Author and playwright Cyrus Mistry was among writers and poets honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for 2015. Six books of short stories, six of poetry, four of novels, two books each of essays, criticism and plays, and one of memoirs have won the award this year.

The list released by India’s premier literary body on Thursday honours the likes of Hindi poet Ramdarash Mishra, Kannada poet KV Tirumalesh, Malayalam novelist KR Meera, and Tamil essayist A Madhavan.

The Akademi said the awards were recommended by distinguished jury members who represented 23 Indian languages, and approved by its executive board. All winners will be given a casket containing a cheque of Rs 1 lakh, a shawl and an engraved copper plaque at a special event scheduled on February 16, during the Festival of Letters organised by the institution.

Earlier this year, several past winners had returned their awards protesting against the growing number of incidents of intolerance in the country and the inaction of the institution in this regard.