The award honors Kannada language films.
The first recipient of the award is S. R. Puttanna Kanagal.
For six times, multiple writers were awarded for their work in a single film; Shankar Nag and Mariam Jetpurwala for Minchina Ota (1979), Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and Chi.
Udayashankar for Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma (1985, first time) and Anand (1986, second time), S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu and Ramani for Kothigalu Saar Kothigalu (2001), Prakash and M. S. Abhishek for Rishi (2004), Shashank and Raghu Kovi for Krishna Leela (2015).
The following is a complete list of award winners and the name of the films for which they won.