Sarah Joseph (born 1946) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in

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 ...

. She won the

Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

and the

Vayalar Award The Vayalar Award is given for the best literary work in Malayalam. The award was instituted in 1977 by the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust in memory of the poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma (1928-1975). A sum of 25,000, a silver plate and ce ...

for her novel '' Aalahayude Penmakkal'' (Daughters of God the Father). She is a leader of the

feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...

in Kerala and is the founder of the activist organization Manushi. She joined the

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, popular ...

in 2014 and contested the 2014 parliament elections from Thrissur.

Biography

Sarah Joseph was born into a conservative Christian family at

Kuriachira Kuriachira is a town in Kerala, India. It is located within 2 km south of Swaraj Round. It lies beside the Thalore bypass road. Kuriachira is 25th division of Thrissur Municipal Corporation. It is an important residential area of Thrissur c ...

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 ...

city in 1946 to Louis and Kochumariam. She was married at the age of 15 when she was in class IX. She attended the teacher's training course and began her professional career as a school teacher. Later, she received her B.A. and M.A. in

as a private candidate and joined the collegiate service in

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 ...

. She served as a Professor of

at Sanskrit College,

Pattambi Pattambi is a town taluk and municipality in the Palakkad district of the state of Kerala, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Pattambi Taluk. Pattambi is located along the banks of Bharathappuzha river. A Mini Civil Station ...

. She has since retired from government service and lives at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur district.Her daughter

Sangeetha Sreenivasan Sangeetha Sreenivasan is a novelist, children's writer, translator, Guitarist and teacher from Kerala, India. She writes in Malayalam and English and also translates into both languages. In 2020, she received Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Tran ...

is also a writer. Sarah Joseph is also a well-known social activist and feminist movement leader. In the 1980s, she founded the women's group Manushi at Sanskrit College in Pattambi, where she also taught Malayalam and literature. With her group, she led protests over several decades in response to a wide range of crimes against women, including rape,

dowry deaths Dowry deaths are deaths of married women who are murdered or driven to suicide over disputes about dowry. Dowry deaths are found predominantly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran.. Around 87,000 women were killed around the world last year a ...

, trafficking, and sexual slavery. She joined the

in January 2014, and was fielded by the party as a candidate from the

Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency Thrissur is one of the 20 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in the state of Kerala in southern India. It consists of seven assembly segments in Thrissur district. Assembly segments Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the fol ...

in the 2014 parliament elections, but lost to C. N. Jayadevan of

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

Literary career

Her literary career began when she was in high school. Many of her poems appeared in Malayalam weeklies. She was also good at reciting her poems at poets' meets which was much appreciated by poets like

Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon Kerala poet and Indian poet Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (11 May 1911 – 22 December 1985) (also written as Vailoppilli) was an Indian poet of Malayalam literature. Known for his works such as ''Kudiyozhikkal'', ''Kannikkoythu'' and '' Mambazham'' ...

and

Edasseri Govindan Nair Edasseri Govindan Nair ( ml, ഇടശ്ശേരി ഗോവിന്ദൻ നായർ; 23 December 1906 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian poet and playwright of Malayalam literature. Known as one of the major poets of Malayalam, Edasseri ...

. She has published a trilogy of novels which includes '' Aalahayude Penmakkal'', ''Mattathi'', and ''

Othappu ''Othappu'' ( en, Scandal or Temptation) is a Malayalam novel written by Sarah Joseph and published in 2005. The novel is the last in the trilogy which includes 'Alaahayude Penmakkal' and 'Mattathi'. While 'Mattathi' is a kind of sequel to 'Ala ...

''. Othappu has been translated into English by

Valson Thampu Revd. Valson Thampu is an Indian educator, Christian theologian, who was the Principal of St Stephen's College, University of Delhi, Delhi, from 2008 to February 2016. Prior to this he was a lecturer at the college and its officiating princip ...

under the title ''Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side''. Her novel '' Aalahayude Penmakkal'' won her three major awards – the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award, the

, and the

. It also received the

Cherukad Award Cherukad Award is an annual award given for literary works in Malayalam. The award was instituted in 1978 by Cherukad Smaraka Trust at Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India. It is named after Malayalam playwright, poet, novelist, and political activist Che ...

. She is known for ''Ramayana Kathakal'', a retelling of the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. An English translation of this work has been published by the Oxford University Press. In 2011, she won the

Muttathu Varkey Award Muttathu Varkey Award for contributions to the field of Malayalam literature is instituted by the Muttattu Varkey Foundation in memory of novelist Muttathu Varkey. The award was instituted in 1992 and as of 2012, it carries a purse of 50000, a c ...

for her collection of short stories titled ''Papathara''. A collection of her short stories translated into English, ''The Masculine of ‘Virgin’'' was released in 2012, including her story ''Papathara'', from the collection that led

K. Satchidanandan K. Satchidanandan (1946) is an Indian poet and critic, writing in Malayalam and English. A pioneer of modern poetry in Malayalam, a bilingual literary critic, playwright, editor, columnist and translator, he is the former editor of ''Indian L ...

to create the word "Pennezhuthu," which was defined by ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' as "writing seen as a feminist concept, in which the author uses female constructions of identity." She is also the recipient of the first

O. V. Vijayan Sahitya Puraskaram The O. V. Vijayan Sahitya Puraskaram or O. V. Vijayan Literary Award is instituted by the Naveena Samskarika Kala Kendram, Hyderabad, in memory of Malayalam novelist and cartoonist O. V. Vijayan who had spent his last days in Secunderabad. The ...

in 2011 for her novel ''Ooru Kaval''. In 2012 she won the

Padmaprabha Literary Award Padmaprabha Literary Award for contributions to the field of Malayalam literature is instituted by the Padmaprabha Foundation. A prestigious literary prize in Malayalam, the award was instituted in memory of freedom fighter and socialist Padmaprab ...

. On 10 October 2015, Joseph joined a protest by writers when she returned her 2003 Sahitya Akademi Award, stating, "There is a growing fear and lack of freedom under the present government", and criticising silence by the Sahitya Akademi in response murders of writers and mob violence.

Selected works

Short stories

*''Raktachandran'' (The Blood-Moon) *''Dukhavelli'' (The Good Friday) *''Manassile Thee Matram'' (1973) *''Kadinte Sangeetham'' (1975, anthology of short stories) *''Pathalappadikal'' (Steps to the Netherworld) *''Papathara'' (The Ground of Sin) *''Prakasiniyude Makkal'' (Prakasini’s Children) *''Dampatyam'' (In Marriage) *''Oduvilathe Suryakanthi'' *''Nilavu Nirayunnu'' *''Puthuramayanam'' *''Kaadithu Kandaayo Kaanthaa'' *''Nanmathinmakalude Vriksham'' (anthology of short stories) (The Tree of Knowledge) *''Retelling the Ramayana: Voices from Kerala'', translated by Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan, OUP, 2005 *''The Masculine of the Virgin'', translated by J. Devika, OUP, 2013

Novels

*''Thaikulam'' *'' Aalahayude Penmakkal'' (The Daughters of Alaha) *''Maattaathi'' (The Woman-Enemy) *''

'' *''Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side'', translated by Valson Thampu, OUP, 2009 *''Aathi'' *''Ooru Kaval'' *''

Aalohari Anandam ''Aalohari Anandam'' (''Per Capita Happiness'') is a Malayalam, Malayalam-language novel by Sarah Joseph (author), Sarah Joseph published in 2013. The novel was originally serialised in ''Mathrubhumi Weekly''. Plot summary Set in a large Christ ...

'' *'' Budhini'' *''Ati'' (''A Gift of Green'')

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Sarah Writers from Thrissur Living people 1946 births Indian women novelists Indian women short story writers Malayalam-language writers Malayalam novelists Malayalam short story writers Indian women's rights activists Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election 21st-century Indian short story writers Aam Aadmi Party politicians 21st-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian women writers Women writers from Kerala Activists from Kerala Politicians from Thrissur Novelists from Kerala