K. Satchidanandan is an Indian poet and critic, writing in Malayalam and English. A pioneer of modern poetry in Malayalam, a bilingual literary critic, playwright, editor, columnist and translator, he is the former editor of Indian Literature journal and the former secretary of Sahitya Akademi. He is also social advocate for secular anti-caste views, supporting causes like environment, human rights and free software and is a well known speaker on issues concerning contemporary Indian literature. He is the festival director of Kerala Literature Festival.
Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair, popularly known as M.T., is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-Independence Indian literature. At the age of 20, as a chemistry undergraduate, he won the prize for the best short story in Malayalam at World Short Story Competition conducted by The New York Herald Tribune. His first major novel Naalukettu, written at the age of 23, won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958. His other novels include Manju (Mist), Kaalam (Time), Asuravithu and Randamoozham. The deep emotional experiences of his early days have gone into the making of MT's novels. Most of his works are oriented towards the basic Malayalam family structure and culture and many of them were path-breaking in the history of Malayalam literature. His three seminal novels on life in the matriarchal family in Kerala are Naalukettu, Asuravithu, and Kaalam. Randamoozham, which retells the story of the Mahabharatha from the point of view of Bhimasena, is widely credited as his masterpiece.
N. S. Madhavan is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his novel, Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal and a host of short stories such as Higuita, Thiruthu, Chulaimedile Shavangal and Vanmarangal Veezhumpol, Madhavan also writes football columns and travel articles. He is a distinguished fellow of Kerala Sahitya Akademi and a recipient of several major awards including Odakkuzhal Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel, Muttathu Varkey Award, Mathrubhumi Literary Award, Crossword Book Award and Kerala State Students Federation Sahithyolsav Award.
Maniyambath Mukundan is an Indian author of Malayalam literature and former diplomat. He worked as a cultural attaché at the Embassy of France in Delhi from 1961 to 2004, while concurrently working as an author. Many of his early works are set in Mahe (Mayyazhi), his homeland, which earned him the moniker Mayyazhiyude Kathakaaran. He is known to be one of the pioneers of modernity in Malayalam literature. Some of his best known works include Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil, Daivathinte Vikrithikal, Kesavante Vilapangal, and Pravasam.
P. Sachidanandan, who uses the pseudonym Anand, is an Indian writer, writing primarily in Malayalam. He is one of the known living intellectuals in India. His works are noted for their philosophical flavor, historical context and their humanism. He is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and three Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards. He is also a recipient of Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Vayalar Award, Odakkuzhal Award, Muttathu Varkey Award, Vallathol Award and Yashpal Award. He did not accept the Yashpal Award and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel.
The Vayalar Award is a literary award presented annually in Kerala, India, for the best literary work in Malayalam. It was instituted in 1977 by the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust in memory of poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma (1928-1975). A sum of ₹25,000, a silver plate and certificate constituted the award originally. Now it is raised to a sum of ₹100,000. It is presented each year on 27 October, the death anniversary of Ramavarma.
K. V. Ramakrishna Iyer, better known by his pen name, Malayattoor Ramakrishnan, was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, cartoonist, lawyer, judicial magistrate, and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He was best known for his novels, short stories and biographical sketches and his works include Yanthram, Verukal, Yakshi and Service Story – Ente IAS Dinangal. He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel in 1967. He was also a recipient of the Vayalar Award in 1979.
Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri was an Indian writer and scholar of Malayalam literature. Known primarily for his poems, Namboothiri also contributed to other genres such as essays, translations and children's literature. Swathanthrathe Kurichu Oru Geetham, Bhoomigeethangal, Indiayenna Vikaaram and Charulata count among his notable works. The Government of India honored him with the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri in 2014 and the Government of Kerala awarded him the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary award in Malayalam, the same year. He was also a recipient of Vayalar Award, Vallathol Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions, Asan Prize, Sahitya Akademi Award and Odakkuzhal Award.
P. Kunjanandan Nair, better known by his pseudonym, Thikkodiyan, was an Indian playwright, novelist, lyricist and screenwriter of Malayalam. He was known for his contributions to the genre of radio plays and his autobiography, Arangu Kaanatha Nadan, which detailed the socio-cultural development of Malabar in the post-independent period, fetched him a number of awards including the Kendra Sahithya Academy Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Biography and Autobiography, Vayalar Award and the Odakkuzhal Award.
Perumbadavam Sreedharan is a Malayalam author from Kerala, India. He is former chairman of Kerala Sahitya Akademi. He has written several novels and short stories. One of his best known novels is Oru Sankeerthanam Pole (1993) for which he won the Vayalar Award in 1996. He got Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Ashtapadi. In 2006, he was awarded the Malayattoor Award for his novel, Narayanam.
Subhash Chandran is a Malayalam novelist, short story writer and journalist from Kerala, India. His work includes the 2010 novel Manushyanu Oru Aamukham and the stories "Vadhakramam", "Sanmargam", "Parudeesa Nashtam" and "Guptham", which have been adapted into films. Chandran is the only writer to receive Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards for both his debut story collection (2001) and debut novel (2011).
A. Sethumadhavan, popularly known as Sethu, is a Malayalam fiction writer. He has published more than 35 books. He won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 2007 for the work Adayalangal. He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards in 1982 and 1978 for his works Pandavapuram and Pediswapnangal; and Vayalar Award for Adyalangal in 2006. He also won Odakkuzhal award for his novel Marupiravi. Sethu's other literary works include Velutha Koodarangal, Thaliyola, Kiratham, Niyogam, Sethuvinte Kathakal and Kaimudrakal. He also served as the chairman and CEO of the South Indian Bank. In 2022, he won the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, highest literary honour of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.
Narayanan Nambuthiri Kakkad, commonly known as N. N. Kakkad, was an Indian poet of the Malayalam language. Known for works such as Saphalmee Yathra, Pathalathinde Muzhakkam and Changatham, he was a Sanskrit scholar and was known to have been proficient in painting and music. He was a recipient of several awards including Odakkuzhal Award, Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry and Vayalar Award.
N. Kuttikrishna Pillai, better known as N. K. Desam, was an Indian Malayalam-language poet and literary critic from the southern state of Kerala. In 2009, his poetry collection Mudra won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. In 2017, his Malayalam transliteration of Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore was selected for the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize.
Kayar (transl. Coir) is a 1978 Malayalam epic novel written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. Widely considered one of the most seminal works in Malayalam literature, Kayar received many major literary awards, including the Vayalar Award.
Ezhacherry Ramachandran is a Malayalam poet, lyricist and journalist. He has penned lyrics for several Malayalam movies and albums. In 2020, he won the Vayalar Award.
Manushyanu Oru Aamukham is a Malayalam debut novel by Subhash Chandran. The novel is set in Thachanakkara, a fictitious village in central Kerala, India, and has the central character named Jithendran. It was originally serialised in Mathrubhumi Weekly in 2009 and was published as a book by DC Books in 2010. The novel won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (2014), Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (2011), Odakkuzhal Award (2011), FOKANA Award (2012), Bhasha Institute's Basheer Puraskaaram (2012), Kovilan Puraskaaram (2012) and Vayalar Award (2015).
Malappurath Raman Chandrasekharan, popularly known as M.R. Chandrasekharan or simply M. R. C., is a Malayalam literary critic and author from Kerala, India. Chandrasekharan has published more than 50 books in different literary sections like literary criticism, translations, politics, social etc. He also works in the field of journalism and education. He won the 2010 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Literary Criticism.
Ini Njan Urangatte is a Malayalam-language novel written by P. K. Balakrishnan in 1973. The novel's inspiration is the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. It may be regarded as a historically notable Malayalam-language novel as it has become a yardstick for epic Malayalam fiction, spawning many Mahabharata based-novels.
Joseph Raphael, better identified as Ponjikkara Rafi, was an Indian essayist, playwright, short story writer and a novelist of Malayalam literature. His oeuvre consists of short story anthologies, novels, philosophical works and screenplays but he is best remembered for two novels, Daivadhoothan, regarded as the first Malayalam novel written in stream of consciousness narrative style, and Ora Pro Nobis, a historical novel based on the Dutch colonial rule. He was also the author of Kaliyugam, a philosophical work jointly written with his wife, Sabeena Rafi, which fetched him the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Miscellaneous Works in 1972.
