Thomas Joseph (8 June 1954 – 29 July 2021) was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. He received

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for writing a story of literary merit. It is one of the twelve categories of the Kerala Sahitya A ...

in 2013 for his work, ''Marichavar Cinema KaanukayaaNu'' (The Dead are Watching Movies). He was also a recipient of SBT Literary Award, Delhi Short Story Award, K. A. Kodungallore Award, V. P. Sivakumar memorial Keli Award and the Children's literary institute Award. He died on 29 July 2021, at the age of 67.

Biography

Thomas Joseph was born on 8 June 1954, in Eloor, an industrial town in Ernakulam district of the south Indian state of Kerala to Thomas Vadaykkal and Mary Vellayil. He wrote his first short story when he was a 5th standard student and started publishing stories in Malayalam weeklies during his high school and college period. He published his first collection of short stories, ''Athbhuta-samasya'', in 1989. His ''Chitra-salabhangalude Kappal'' (''The Ship of Butterflies''), short stories collection, was awarded the SBT Literary Award in 1996. His story "Athbhuta-samasya", was published in the magazine ''Saketam'', under the editorialship of Narendra Prasad and

V. P. Sivakumar Vazhappilliyil Padmanabhan Nair Sivakumar (1947–1993), commonly identified as V. P. Sivakumar, was an Indian writer and translator, known for bringing in a new sensibility in Malayalam literature through his short stories. Besides four short s ...

. He published eight books, which include six collections of short stories.

Death

Thomas Joseph worked at '' Chandrika'' and '' Indian Express'' daily newspapers and in Pen books. Towards the latter part of his life, he resided at

Keezhmad Keezhmad is a village in Aluva. It is located 3 km from Aluva town, between the parallel Aluva - Perumbavoor roads, the KSRTC route along the Periyar river and "private" route that passes through Choondy and Chunangamveli. It is also the h ...

Aluva Aluva (; also known by its former name Alwaye) is a town in the Ernakulam District in Kerala, India. It is a part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is situated around from the city center on the banks of Periyar River. A major transpor ...

and it was here, he suffered a massive

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

while asleep on 15 September 2018, due to which he was admitted to Rajagiri hospital in Kalamassery. Due to limited financial resources, his family could not afford the expenses of the medical treatment and his friends and fellow writers resorted to crowd funding to raise the required money. Though later discharged, he stayed in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

for around three years before his death at his home on 29 July 2021, aged 67.

Awards and honors

Thomas Joseph received Mrigaya magazine’s ‘Mrigaya Award-1984’ through the Readers’ Gallop poll. He was also the recipient of Delhi Short Story Award, K. A. Kodungallore Award (1995), V. P. Sivakumar memorial Keli Award (2003) and the Children's literary institute Award (2009). His short story collection, ''Marichavar cinema kaaNukayaaNu'' (''The Dead are Watching Movies'') received the

in 2013.

Bibliography

Novels

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Short story anthologies

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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Thomas 1954 births 2021 deaths Writers from Kerala People from Aluva 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian novelists Malayali people Malayalam novelists Malayalam short story writers Malayalam-language writers Indian male novelists Indian male short story writers 21st-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian short story writers