U.K. Kumaran’s novel Thakshankunnuswaroopam has been chosen for this year’s Vayalar Ramavarma Literary Prize.
The novel was chosen for the award by a three-member jury comprising writers M. Mukundan and Sethu and literary critic Kadathanatt Narayanan. The award, in its 40th year, would be presented to Mr. Kumaran at a function to be held here on October 27, the death anniversary of the late poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma. It carries a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh, a citation, and a statuette designed by sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman.
“Our choice was unanimous. This is a novel that draws its energy from life in the raw from an imagined village in Malabar where reality and imagination coalesce. The novel is sharp in its critique of the caste system that dominated life at one point of time and among those who people it are Gandhiji and K. Kelappan. Its language and its treatment are organic,” said Mukundan.
“When a novel deals with a universal theme through myths and reality associated with a village, the dimensions it acquires becomes significant. Moreover, Kumaran is a writer belonging to the generation after ours who stood rooted in his no-frills writing style and has remained active as a writer for the last 40 years or so,” said Sethu. “This novel is noteworthy for its theme, structure, and the way it brings forth the oral tradition of Malabar of a century ago,” Prof. Narayanan said.
Announcing the award, Vayalar Trust president and littérateur M.K. Sanoo said the novel was selected from a short list of five works selected from among 146 nominated literary works published for the first time over the past five years.
— Special Correspondent
