chandigarh canadabased writer avtar singh billings novel khali khoohaan di katha the tale of empty wells won the dhahan prize for punjabi literature carrying the highest award money for punjabi literature of around rs 14 lakh the dhahan prize has been constituted by canada india education society cies in partnership with the department of asian studies in the faculty of arts at university of british columbia the award constitutes canadian dollar 25000 around rs 14 lakh the highest literary award in punjabi sahit shiromani puraskar given by the state government carries a cash reward of rs 5 lakh the highest indian award for literature the jnanpith carries a prize money of rs 11 lakh i feel happy and lucky to be the first author to win the prestigious inaugural dhahan prize in punjabi literature said billing canada india education society and the university of british columbia have really made history by establishing such a unique international award for punjabi fiction i feel proud that the punjabi literary world found my sixth novel worthy of this honour he added barj s dhahan cofounder of cies states punjabi has been a canadian language for 115 years and it is exciting that this prize is uniquely a canadian undertaking over 70 eligible entries from 5 countries around the world were received for the award the dhahan prize honours annually one best book in fiction published in either of the two punjabi scripts gurmukhi or shahmukhi two runnerup prizes of canadian dollar 5000 are also given with the provision that both scripts are represented among the three winners the two runners up are ik raat da samunder short stories by jasbir bhullar gurmukhi script and kbooter bnairy te galian short stories by zubair ahmed shahmukhi script professor anne murphy chair of the prize advisory committee said we have three juries one to choose shahmukhi books one for gurmukhi books and one central jury that determines the winnerpowerful narrative avtar singh billings khali khoohaan di katha through powerful narrative and careful description brings into focus the social economic and cultural changes witnessed in rural punjab during the last eight decades the story of four generations woven into the novel is unique in its fictional presentation and yet remains true to the lived experience of a joint peasant family billing was born in 1952 in she village near khanna in ludhiana earlier he was honoured with punjab language departments nanak singh award in 2003 of best novel for his work khere sukh vihre sukh