Kurup, new young poets bring Malayalam poetry centre-stage

Poetry is making a comeback to the mainstream Malayali literature with more youngsters writing, reading and appreciating poetry.

The conferring of the Jnanpith award, one of the highest literary honours, upon veteran Kerala-based poet O.N.V Kurup has come as a shot in the arm for the genre across the state - with new poets emerging from their literary cloisters, writers said.

'At a time when poetry was thought to be dying, the Kovalam Literary Festival has honoured the genre by inviting a poet to chair the inaugural session,' Kurup said, addressing the inaugural ceremony of the festival here Saturday, Oct 2.

He urged organisers of literary festivals in the state - especially the Kovalam Literary Festival - to 'focus on the poet who sings of the paradise and the pandemonium'. Poetry should come out of the 'hot house' to make its power of healing felt, he added.

Kurup quoted poet Emily Dickenson to illustrate the power of poetry saying: 'If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.'

Full report here Sify

‘My poetry is my response to life’

Malayalam poet and lyricist Prof Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup, 79, popularly known as ONV, was in Dubai on Friday, Sep 24 when he received news that he has been awarded the Jnanpith, India’s highest award for literature. In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, he spoke to Sajila Saseendran before he flew back to India.

There is a general opinion in the Malayalam literary circle that the award has been long-overdue.
I cannot claim an award and I don’t have the right to say it is long overdue. We shouldn’t aspire for awards when we write or create something. If you write something, that piece of work is like an award because of the satisfaction it gives you. However, in this long journey of 65 years of publishing my works, several awards have come to me and they are like a shadow or paadheyam (a parceled meal offered to a traveller). When I was a young writer, it was an inspiration, an impetus. Now, I consider it as a recognition to Malayalam poetry. What is more important is that we are getting a Jnanpith award for Malayalam poetry after a long time, after G Sankara Kurup.

You have been a very popular lyricist, as well. What gives you more self-satisfaction — poems or songs?
Poetry is poetry, while film songs are poetry applied to film. The architect of the film is its director. Here, I’m the architect and I have supreme powers. In poetry, I can change words as I like. But, in films, I write for another person. Whether it is a poem or a song, when it serves its purpose, you get satisfaction. However, I get more satisfaction in writing poems since poetry is much deeper and is a response to life.

Do you think poetry is dying in this age of commercialisation?
To a certain extent, yes. It is true that the visual media or the spoken word in it is now dominating and poetry, or the written word, is losing its readers gradually. However, poetry always has a fixed audience. Nothing can replace the aesthetic aspect of the written poetic word. But, there are people who want to develop this notion that poetry is dying down. Languages are nowadays shrinking. Ruining our language for the sake of computer usage is not right.

Full interview here Khaleej Times

Warm welcome for Jnanpith award winner

Malayalam poet and film lyricist ONV Kurup, who won India's prestigious literary prize Jnanpith, was given a rousing reception.

Malayalam poet and film lyricist ONV Kurup, who won India's prestigious literary prize Jnanpith, was given a rousing reception in Thiruvananthapuram, on Saturday, Sep 25 when he flew down to Thiruvananthapuram after a visit abroad. He was in the Gulf when the award was announced on Friday.

ONV Kurup was awarded the 43rd Jnanpith award. ONV, as he is better known in literary and social circles, is the fifth writer from Kerala to win the award.

A large crowd including political leaders and well-wishers from social and literary circles gathered at the airport  when ONV arrived.

Kerala Minister for Culture M.A. Baby was also at hand to congratulate the poet. Baby said the government would seek to have the award bestowed in Kerala, instead of in Delhi as usual.

Full report here Gulfnews

Jnanpith for Malayalam poet-lyricist Kurup

Veteran Malayalam poet and film lyricist O N V Kurup has bagged the Jnanpith award for 2007. He is the fifth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second poet from the state to win the prestigious award. During his seven-decade-long career, the winner of the country’s highest literary honour bagged several state and national awards, including the Padmashree in 1998.

Kurup, 79, began his illustrious poetic career during his school days. His first work, Poruthunna Soundaryam, was published in 1949. He became a college lecturer in 1957 and continued as an academician for the next 30 years. He started writing lyrics for films in 1955 and over the years has bagged state awards for the best lyricist 12 times.

Reacting to his winning the Jnanpith, Kurup said, “I am writing for better days for humankind. I am still drawing inspiration for writing from the life of my coastal village. The award is recognition of the Malayalam language.”

Full report here Indian Express

Related reports
Jnanpith for Malayalam poet Kurup, Urdu scholar Shahryar Times of India
Malayalam, Urdu writers claim Jnanpith awards Hindu
Jnanpith award an honour for Malayalam poetry IBNLive

Emerging voice

Saheera Thangal, who has bagged the first Emerging Writer Award, says her literary flights are powered by her passion for writing.

“Her poetry is ‘a surprise that has opened a door and stepped out.' Its intensity makes me laugh and cry at the same time.” The late Kamala Suraiyya wrote this blurb for a debut poetry collection titled Njanenna Ottavara (Me, the Single Line) by Saheera Thangal in 2007. The introduction to this collection was written by none other than poet K. Satchidanandan. Saheera's Malayalam novel Rabia was also well received for its excellent craft and bold theme – polygamy.

The 36-year-old Dubai-based advertising executive, author and poet celebrates this Ramzan with more. She has bagged the first Emerging Writer Award that will be given away at the third Kovalam Literary Festival in October.

In a phone interview from Palakkad, where she is all set to celebrate Ramzan with her family, Saheera talks about her literary excursions, and influences that have shaped her as a writer. “I am very happy and thankful to God for this unexpected treat during this holy month. Awards give writers an inspiration to emerge into something better than what they already are.”

Full report here Hindu

Sahira Thangal Gets Emerging Writer's Award

Sahira Thangal, an upcoming writer in Malayalam, has been selected for the first-ever Emerging Writer's Award. This award is being given as part of the third Kovalam Literary festival, to start from October 1. The award includes a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and other gifts.

Sahira was selected by a one-man jury of Paul Zacharia, and has been awarded for her two brilliant books in Malayalam.

“She is a promising writer, a poet and also a novelist of great promise. Her first novel 'Rabia' is a brilliant narration of a modern young Muslim woman's emotional conflicts,” Paul Zacharia said after announcing the winner.
The award aims to bring regional writer to the forefront of world literature, and honor them for their works.

Full report here Yentha

Writer, actor, director Venu Nagavally dead

Popular writer, actor and director of Malayalam films Venu Nagavally died of liver ailments at a hospital here. He was 61 and is survived by his wife and son.

Nagavally, son of popular writer and commentator Nagavally R.S. Kurup, passed away late Wednesday Sep 8.

The funeral will take place Thursday evening here.

It was while working at All India Radio in 1978 that Nagavally decided to become an actor. His first acting project was 'Ulkadal'.

Though he acted in 35 films, he never rose to stardom. But as a writer and director, Nagavally's stock rose hugely.

Full report here Sify

Parakkadavu's stories in Arabic now

Malayalam short story writer PK Parakkadavu will now be read in Arabic, as a prominent Arab magazine has started publishing five of his selected stories.

AlMar'a AlYom, a fortnightly published from Abu Dhabi has selected Parakkadavu's Vrikshavum Kaviyum (Tree and Poet), Keralam, Jwala (flame), Minnal (Lightning) and Aval (She).

The English translations of these stories had caught the attention of Egyptian-born editor of the magazine Mohammad Id Ibrahim and a story appeared in the August 26 edition of the magazine. "I am happy that my works will now be read in a different language. These stories were earlier translated into English by Yasin Ashraf, a lecturer at the Farook College in Kozhikode," said Parakkadavu.

Full report here New Indian Express

Dubai-based Malayalam writer wins award

Sahira Thangal, a Dubai-based advertising executive and writer, has been selected for the first Emerging Writers' Award. The award will be presented during the third Kovalam Literary Festival to be held in Kerala from Oct 1 to 3.

Thangal was selected by a one-man jury, noted writer Paul Zachariah, for her two books in Malayalam.

'She is an excellent poet, thoughtful and lyrical and brief, and also a novelist of great promise,' Zachariah said.

'Her first novel, 'Rabia' is a brilliant narration of a modern young Muslim woman's emotional conflict which she faces in traditional relationships,' he said.

Thangal shot into the limelight with her first collection of poems, 'Janeena Ottavara', published by the D.C. Books in 2007. She followed it up with 'Rabia', published by Current Books in 2008.

Full report here Sify

Bessy Kadavil chosen for Pravasi literary award

Malayalam writer Bessy Kadavil has been chosen for the literary award of the city-based Pravsa Malayala Sahityavedi.

Bessy, working in the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University, was chosen for the award for her collection of pomes "Karutha Kanikonna", the Vedi said in a release today.

The award carries Rs 11,111, citation and memento. She was selected for the award by a judging committee comprising Prof G N Panikkar, V K Narayanan and Sugunan Njekkad. The award will be presented at a function here on September 1.

Full report here IBNLive

A bilingual book of love poems

A bilingual poetry collection, ‘Pranayasatakam,' consisting of poems of Thachom Poyil Rajeevan, is ready for release.

Says Rajeevan about his latest poetic venture: “Bilingual publishing is very common nowadays in world poetry, especially in Europe and Latin America, as it enhances the reach of poetry as a medium. But, it is very rare in Malayalam. In Kerala, it was only Ayyappa Panicker's epoch-making poem ‘Kurukshetram' that had got a multilingual edition.”

Rajeevan's book contains 100 poems on love, originally written in Malayalam and translated into English by the poet himself.

The poems are supplemented with paintings by the Bengali artist Kabita Mukhopadhaya who lives in Kozhikode city. The book will be released by novelist Anita Nair here on August 17.

‘Pranayasatakam' is Rajeevan's seventh collection which includes ‘He Who Was Gone Thus' and ‘Kannaki' in English. The poet claims the poems in this collection are free from ideological straightjackets which, he believes is the bane of poetry.

Full report here Hindu

Translators award announced

The translation of a Malayalam travelogue on the Himalayan region by M P Veerendra Kumar, Managing Director of Mathrubhoomi Group of publications is one among 12 books chosen for the prestigious 'Nalli-Thisai Ettum' translation award this year.

Announcing the awards for 2010, R Natarajan, Advisor 'Thisai Ettum,' a Tamil quarterly for translated works, told reporters in Coimbatore that Sirpi Balasubramaniam, a Tamil poet and convener of Sathiya Akademi's Tamil Board, had translated the book Hymavathabhoovi into Tamil, titled Vellipanimeethu.

A total of 14 translators have been selected for the award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and a citation, he said. About 150 entries from across India were scrutinized by a bilingual jury and fiction and non-fiction works, translated from Tamil and translated into Tamil from other languages including English, merit the award, he said.

Full report here IBNLive

Ramayana season in full bloom

Traditions have the power to cast their spell over people, no matter how far and removed lives are from the old word orders. For ages, the arrival of the rain-drenched Karkkidakam has meant a month-long recital of the Ramayana to the believers in this part of the world. The fast-moving copies of Ramayana texts in the city’s book shops in the ‘Ramayana month’ proclaim the survival of the ritual through changing times.

 DC Books has sold a sizeable number of Ramayana texts this season.  Says sales assistant Sudeep, “This year, we have brought out an annotated prose version by Professor Vattaparambil Gopinatha Pillai, which is topping the sales chart. The first 5,000 copies have been sold out and a reprint is set to reach the stores. The hard-bound regular verse text is expected to do well like always; last year we sold around 20,000 copies.”

 DC also stocks a verse text in old Malayalam font with bolder printing for senior citizens, so that failing eyesight should not hamper the observance of the ritual.

Full report here New Indian Express

Soft-spoken, yet prolific

Cris Seetha turns an intruder to media-shy K Indira's writing world.

Sitting quietly by herself in her living room, she is scribbling fast and hard on white sheets of papers spread across a table.

Page 158. Beautiful curves of Malayalam letters in blue ink fall rhythmically on the paper. They seem impatient to finish the story, as much as the writer. K Indira lifts her head, least perturbed by the intruder who has come in between her letters and herself.

Mornings and afternoons are her creative hours. This is one such hour. Author of 12 books, Indira is still media-shy. But she does not refuse to tell the story of her long association with letters. “When I was young, I did not get much encouragement. I used to send something to Kaumudi when I was in college. Later when I got a job in PWD, I stayed at a ladies’ hostel and that was when I published more—in Kaumudi, Janayugam, Kerala Kaumudi, etc,” says Indira. She giggles as she talks about hiding a novel under her books on the eve of exams.

It was after her marriage to Kilimanoor Remakanthan, a well-known writer in Malayalam, that Indira began reading more. For once, she did not lack encouragement to read and write.

Full report here Yentha

Malayala Manorama Chief Editor passes away

K.M. Mathew, Chief Editor of the mass-circulation Malayalam newspaper Malayala Manorama, passed away at his residence in Kottayam on Sunday, August 1 morning.

He was 93. He had age-related ailments, but was active and at work till a few months ago.

Born as the eighth son of K.C. Mammen Mappillai and Kunjaadamma on January 2, 1917, Mr. Mathew started off as a rubber planter in Chickmagalur in Karnataka. He later went to Bombay to look after another line of the family business. He joined the family-owned Malayala Manorama in 1954 as its General Manager and Managing Editor under his elder brother K.M. Cherian, following the death of their father, Mammen Mappillai, who was the Editor from 1904. Mr. Mathew became the Chief Editor of the newspaper, founded in 1888, on the death of Cherian in 1973.

Mr. Mathew's brothers included the late K.M. Mammen Mappillai, who was Chairman of the Chennai-based tyre major, MRF Limited.

Under his stewardship, Malayala Manorama embarked on a new journey of expansion and modernisation. He encouraged young talent, and several professionals were specially trained and oriented to a popular style of journalism that in many ways changed the face of newspapers and the style of newspapering in Malayalam.

Manorama introduced reader-friendly editorial packaging techniques and professional page designing under his guidance and consolidated its leadership in circulation in the regional market. The newspaper today has a daily circulation of about 18 lakhs, with 17 printing centres in Kerala and elsewhere. The group has nearly four dozen publications in Malayalam, English and Hindi. The group runs a television channel and FM radio channels in Malayalam.

Mr. Mathew was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1998.

He served as the president of the Indian Newspaper Society; chairman of the Press Trust of India; founder-trustee and chairman of the Press Institute of India and Research Institute for Newspaper Development; executive committee member of the Federation of International Newspaper Publishers and Editors based in France and a consultant to the International Press Institute.

Mr. Mathew has written two books, Ettamathe Mothiram (The Eighth Ring), an autobiography, and Annamma, in memory of his late wife who made a name for herself with a range of cookery books. Mrs. K.M. Mathew, as she chose to be known in public, was the Editor of Vanitha, a magazine for women, until her death in 2003. They have four children: Mammen Mathew, Editor; Philip Mathew, Managing Editor; and Jacob Mathew, Executive Editor of Malayala Manorama. Thankom Mammen is their daughter.

Full report here Hindu

ONV stands up for Malayalam

Reiterating his angst and wondering about the reasons for many Malayalam books not getting translated, veteran poet ONV Kurup inaugurated a seven-day book exhibition organised by Rachana, the cultural wing of the Kerala Secretariat Employees’ Association, in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, July 29.

“We have translated books from so many different languages. But only a few books from Malayalam get translated to other Indian languages,” said ONV. “And when people like us raise our voice for our language, others say it is because we have some ulterior motives, like securing the post of a vice-chancellor. What ambitions can someone as old as me have?” he asked.

“Malayalam should not be pushed behind any other language. It should rise to great heights,” said the poet, inspiring the hundreds gathered there to read and understand their mother-tongue better.

Full report here Yentha

‘Thiruppugazh’ for everyone

The F/236 flat in Swathi Nagar has a Tamil attire right from its doorsteps. The ‘kolams’ in front, the typical jasmine flowers, idols; everything pulls a visitor to an invisible Tamil connection here. Living in this congested flat complex in West Fort, S R Subrahmanyan Ayyar and S Subbalakshmi have been spreading the message of ‘Thiruppugazh’- a central work of mediaeval Tamil literature composed by poet-saint Arunagirinathar during 15th century - to city folk.

For this old couple, giving music classes on Thiruppugazh to interested people is the main activity post-retirement. Thiruppugazh is considered as the central work of mediaeval Tamil literature which outshines contemporary works with its distinct style and composition. “The language in this classical Tamil work has loaned words and usages from Sanskrit, Malayalam and Urdu. It visualises universal brotherhood and has intertextual connections with other epics in Indian literature,” says Ayyar.

Full report here New indian Express

A grandma's tale

Everybody enjoys listening to grandmas' tales; tales of mystery, of romance, tales from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata …but most importantly often with a moral in the end. Well, Nandavanam is a grandma's tale, but one that was written by a grandma in her youth. The Malayalam novel, which has a fine blend of mystery, drama and romance, was written by 95-year-old Bharati Amma in her teenage years.

Says Bharati Amma with a smile: “I started writing the novel when I was 15 years old and completed it when I was 16. I wrote the story on scraps of paper. I didn't let anyone see the story when I was writing it as I was afraid their remarks may affect my thought process for the story and also my interest. When the novel was ready, I transferred it into ledgers a relative gave me.”

Full report here Hindu

Book on Karkare an inspiration for PFI activists

'Who killed Karkare? The real face of terrorism in India', the book penned by a retired IPS officer which points an accusing finger at Hindu fundamentalism for the rise in terrorist activities in India, has become a handbook for the Muslim extremist outfits, including the Popular Front of India (PFI).

Within a short span of time after its release, the book that tries to trace the 'Hinduist links' behind the death of Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemanth Karkare, has been translated into various Indian languages, including Malayalam. The Malayalam edition of the book was brought out by Thejas Publications the publication wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI).

'Karkareye Konnatharu,' the Malayalam edition that was released in February is doing brisk sales, say the publishers.

Top sources in the State Police said that the book was widely read and circulated among PFI activists in the State as well as members of other Muslim extremist outfits. ''The book does not contain any objectionable content and hence we could not interfere in it, '' a senior police officer said.

Full report here New Indian Express

9 languages launched in Brampton Library

In a function held at South Fletcher’s library in Brampton nine books in different languages were launched on the occasion of Canadian multicultural day.

The occasion was jointly inaugurated by Adele Kostiak CEO of Brampton Library, and Janice Awde, Chair of the board. Nine languages were added to the existing 13 languages including Bengali, Croatian, Korean, Malayalam, Persian, Romanian, Serbian, Sinhalese and Turkish. The existing 13 languages are Arabic, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Tamil, Tagalog, Urdu and Vietnamese. Sarala Uttangi, Coordinator Multicultural Services introduced and gave a description of the different languages and welcome the gathering. A representative from each language spoke few lines from a book in their language .Harikumar resident of Brampton introduced Malayalam by reading few lines from the renowned writer of Malayalam & English Late Madhavikkutty.

Full report here South Asia Mail