Kasaragod: Poet and painter Biju Kanhangad passed away on Tuesday. He was 50. Biju was undergoing treatment for heart-related ailments at a private hospital in Mangaluru.

Biju was a Malayalam teacher at Periya Government Higher Secondary School. He represented the state at the national poets meet in 2005, organised by the Sahitya Akademi.

'Uchamazhayil', 'Azhichukettu', 'Vellimoonga' and June are some of his published collections of poetry. Some poems were translated into English, Hindi, Tulu and Kannada. He had also published literary criticism.

He won the Mahakavi P Memorial Young Poet Excellence Award, Moodadi Damodaran Memorial Poetry Award and Prof Joseph Mundassery Memorial Literary Award.

He is survived by his wife Greeshma and mother Leela. Father Narayanan predeceased him.