Much of the early indigenous Konkani literature has been lost. As a language it is close to Marathi and Hindi and Devanagari is its natural script. Tales of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana translated from Marathi by Krishnadas Sharma in the 16th century are extant in the Roman script.
A significant amount of Christian literature came to be written in Konkani in the 17th century. Names of note are Father Joachim de Miranda who wrote the longest Konkani hymn, Riglo Jesu Mollantum and Dona Barreto who wrote Papience Xerathini.
The modern period which began in the 20th century was epitomized by Shenoi Goembab. Some writers of note of the new age are B. Borkar (Paimzonam), M. Sardesai who is a poet and novelist, Reginaldo Fernandez and V.J.P. Sakthana, both novelists.