K.P. Ramanunni, who has won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Daivathinte Pusthakam , believes his stand against communalism has been vindicated with the honour.
“I wrote this novel because communalism is something I strongly feel about,” Mr. Ramanunni told The Hindu here on Thursday. “I am glad that the award has come not too long after I received threats from religious extremists against an article of mine.”
He said he had to work harder on the novel, as it ran into 700 pages. “Yes, it should be one of the longest novels in Malayalam, especially after Vilasini’s Avakashikal and Thakazhi’s Kayar ,” said the Kozhikode-based writer, whose major works include Sufi Paranja Katha and Jeevithathinte Pusthakam .
“And I believe this is the first ever novel, in any language, in which Prophet Mohammed appears as a character. So it feels nice to reflect that such a novel has received this recognition.”
Another writer from Kozhikode was also recognised by the akademi on Thursday. K.S. Venkatachalam’s book Agraharathile Poocha won the award for translation.
It is a collection of Tamil short stories by Jayakanthan. “I am delighted that I have won the award for a bunch of stories I selected from a large pool,” Mr. Venkatachalam said. “It was not easy to translate Jayakanthan’s stories, especially the dialogues. But I was able to do justice because Tamil is my mother tongue.”
Mr. Venkatachalam, who has authored 25 books, most of which are translations, said it felt nice to be honoured by the akademi. “It is not often that the translators get their due,” he said.
