Anuja Akathoottu is a

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

poet and short story writer from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. In 2019, she received the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Yuva Puraskar The Yuva Puraskar (Hindi: युवा पुरस्कार), also known as Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on young writers of outsta ...

for her collection of poems ''Amma Urangunnilla''.

Biography

Anuja A. R. popularly known as Anuja Akathoottu was born in 1987 in Paipra near

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting poin ...

Ernakulam district Ernakulam, ; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'', in Malayalam: എറണാകുളം), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, that takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part o ...

, as the daughter of Paipra Radhakrishnan and

Nalini Bekal Nalini Bekal (born 15 October 1954) is a Malayalam novelist and short story writer.Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

, Little Flower,

, and St. Augustine's Higher Secondary School,

. She completed BSc (Agriculture) from

Kerala Agricultural University Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) is a State university (India), state university for agricultural education, recognised as a Agricultural Universities (India), State Agricultural University (SAU) by the Indian Council of Agricultural Resea ...

with university rank and PG and PhD from

Indian Agricultural Research Institute The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), commonly known as the Pusa Institute, is India's national institute for agricultural research, education and extension. The name Pusa Institute is derived from the fact that the institute was or ...

, New Delhi with IARI Gold Medal for PG. In 2009, she participated in the National Camp for Young Writers organized by the

. Anuja works as a scientist at the

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute was established in the government of India on 3 February 1947 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and later, in 1967, it joined the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, and her specialisation is Agricultural/Fisheries Economics. Her husband Dr. Muhammad Aslam is working as an Assistant Professor at the

Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) is a university established by the Government of Kerala in December 2010 to further education, research and extension services in the field of Veterinary and Animal Sciences. The territor ...

Works

* ''Amma Urangunnilla'' (poetry collection),

DC Books DC Books is a publisher in Kerala publisher of books in Malayalam, and one of the publishers in India . It also operates one of the largest book store chains in India, with a network of over 45 bookshops under the DC Books and Current Books b ...

, Kottayam * ''Aromayude Vastrangal'' (short story collection), Current Books, Thrissur * ''Pothuvakya Sammelanam'' (short story collection), Current Books, Thrissur * ''Koottu''

Honors and awards

*2019

*ONV Youth Literature Award *Abudabi Shakthi Award *Venmani Award *Tirur Thunchan Memorial Award *VT Kumaran Master Award *Binoy Chathuruthi Award *Vyloppilly Award *

Ayyappa Paniker Dr. K. Ayyappa Paniker, sometimes spelt "Ayyappa Panicker" (12 September 1930 – 23 August 2006), was a Malayalam poet, literary critic, and an academic and a scholar in modern and post-modern literary theories as well as ancient Indian aesthe ...

Memorial Poetry Award *

Kamala Surayya Kamala Surayya (born Kamala; 31 March 1934 – 31 May 2009), popularly known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and married name Kamala Das, was an Indian poet in English as well as an author in Malayalam from Kerala, India. Her popularity ...

Award *Atlas-Kairali Poetry Award *Anganam Literature Award *Kerala School Youth Festival State level Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anuja, Akathoottu 1987 births Living people People from Ernakulam district Poets from Kerala Women writers from Kerala Malayalam poets Indian women poets 21st-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Malayalam-language writers Indian women short story writers Malayali people 21st-century Indian short story writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar