O. V. Usha (born 4 November 1948) is a

Malayalam 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 novelist. Described by

K. M. George K. M. George may refer to: * K. M. George (politician), political leader and founder of Kerala Congress * K. M. George (writer) Karimpumannil Mathai George (1914–2002), popularly known as Dr. K. M. George, was an eminent Malayalam writer and ...

as a poet with "deep moral concern and technical dexterity", she has written four volumes of poems and a few short stories while also authoring a novel. She has also written articles in various journals. Usha served the

Mahatma Gandhi University Kottayam Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), commonly referred to as MG University, is a state owned public university headquartered in Kottayam in the state of Kerala, India. It was established on 2 October 1983 on Gandhi Jayanti day. Mahatma Gandhi Uni ...

as its director of publications. She won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics The Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyricist is an honour, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to a lyricist for best lyrics in a Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Depart ...

for ''

Mazha ''Mazha'' () is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Lenin Rajendran based on the short story ''Nashtappetta Neelambari'' by Madhavikkutty. It stars Biju Menon, Samyuktha Varma and Lal. The music was composed by ...

'', a Malayalam film released in 2000.

Biography

Usha was born in a small village near

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

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 ...

as the youngest child of her family. Her childhood was mostly spent in her native village. Her father was employed at "Malabar Special Police" while her eldest brother

O. V. Vijayan Ottupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan (2 July 1931 – 30 March 2005), commonly known as O. V. Vijayan, was an Indian author and cartoonist, who was an important figure in modern Malayalam language literature. Best known for his first novel ''Khasakki ...

was a novelist and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. Usha was drawn to

Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six Classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a Sou ...

by her mother thus developing an interest towards it at an early age. Usha started writing poems at the age of 13, and was a frequent contributor to the "Children's Corner" of the Malayalam weekly ''

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian independence movement, Indian freedom struggle against the British Raj, British. The word "M ...

''. Her poems were published regularly in the weekly till 1973 when she was aged 25. After her schooling, she moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, as her brother was settled there, and completed a post graduate degree in English literature from the

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

. Upon completing her degree, Usha started her career as an editorial trainee and later became the editor-in-chief of a publishing house. In 1971, one of her short stories titled "Inquilab Zindabad" was made into a film of the same name. In the same film she wrote a song ( 'aarude manasile gaanamayi njan', music G. Devarajan, Singer P.Leela) presumably by first women lyricist in modern Malayalam filmdom. From 1973, she did not contribute more for a period of ten years. In 1982, she resumed writing and has been a frequent contributor since then. While most of her poems are not published in a "book form", her only novel ''Shahid Naama'' was published in 2001. She was one among the jury members of the Kerala State Film Awards in 2008 and served the Mahatma Gandhi University,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

as its director of publications.

Works

* ''Snehageethangal'' (Poetry) * ''Dhyaanam'' (Poetry) * ''Agnimitrannoru Kurippu'' (Poetry) * ''Shahid Naama'' (Novel, 2001) * ''Nilam Thodaa Mannu'' (Short story)

Awards

* 2000 –

for ''

Notes

References

Sources

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Usha, O. V. 1948 births Living people Novelists from Kerala Malayalam-language lyricists Malayalam poets Delhi University alumni Kerala State Film Award winners Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 Government Victoria College, Palakkad alumni Indian lyricists 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian novelists Indian women poets Indian women short story writers Indian women novelists People from Palakkad district 20th-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Women writers from Kerala Poets from Kerala