Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards announced: M Swaraj, Anitha Thampi, GR Indugopan among key winners

Thrissur: Senior CPM leader M. Swaraj has been awarded the Kerala Sahitya Akademi’s C.B. Kumar Award for best essay collection for his book Pookkalude Pusthakam. The work had drawn attention during his campaign for the Nilambur bypoll. Despite the attention, Swaraj suffered a major defeat, losing to UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath.

Distinguished Membership for literary veterans

The 2024 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards, announced on Thursday, honoured veteran writers K.V. Ramakrishnan and Ezhacheri Ramachandran with the Akademi’s Distinguished Membership for their invaluable contributions to Malayalam literature.

Each Distinguished Membership award includes ₹50,000 in cash, a gold medal weighing two sovereigns, a citation, a felicitation shawl (ponnada), and a plaque.

Lifetime Achievement Awards announced

The Akademi conferred Lifetime Achievement Awards on six literary figures: P.K.N. Panicker, Payyanur Kunhiraman, M.M. Narayanan, T.K. Gangadharan, K.E.N., and Mallika Yunis, recognising their lifelong service to Malayalam literature.

Awards across genres

The awards also celebrated contemporary literary excellence. Anitha Thampi won in the poetry category, G.R. Indugopan for novel, and V. Shinilal for short stories. Sasidharan Naduvil received the award for playwright, and G. Dileepan was honoured for literary criticism.

Niranjan was recognised for humour writing, while P. Deepak received the award in the scientific literature category.

Dr. K. Rajasekharan Nair was awarded in the biography category, and K.R. Ajayan for travel writing. Chinju Prakash won in the translation category, and E.N. Sheeja received the award for children’s literature.

Dr. S.S. Sreekumar was given the Kuttipuzha Award for literary criticism. The G.N. Pillai Award for scientific literature was jointly awarded to Dr. K.C. Soumya and T.S. Shyamkumar.

Youth and endowment awards presented

Saleem Shareef won the Geetha Hiranyan Award endowment for his short story. Durga Prasad was selected for the Yuva Kavitha (Young Poetry) Award, and Dr. K.P. Praseetha emerged as winner of the Thunchan Memorial essay writing competition.