Ashitha (Malayalam: അഷിത; 5 April 1956 – 27 March 2019) was an Indian writer of

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 ...

, best known for her short stories, poems and translations. She helped popularize haiku poems in Malayalam through her translations. She was a recipient of the

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 ...

and other honours including the

Padmarajan Award Padmarajan Award (Padmarajan Puraskaram) is instituted by Padmarajan Memorial Trust in memory of author and filmmaker P. Padmarajan and is given for the best short story and best feature film produced in Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ...

, Lalithambika Anterjanam Smaraka Sahitya Award and

Edasseri Award 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 ...

Biography

Ashitha was born on 5 April 1956 in

Pazhayannur Pazhayannur is a town and panchayath in Thrissur district, in the state of Kerala, India. Demographics India census, Pazhayannur had a population of 15,979 with 7,680 males and 8,299 females. Historically, a major part of Pazhayannur was un ...

in Trichur district of

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 ...

to Kazhangottu Balachandran Nair and Thekkekarupath Thankamani Amma. She completed her schooling from

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 ...

and

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and obtained her graduate and master's degrees in English literature from

Maharaja's College, Ernakulam The Maharaja's College is a government college of higher education located in Kochi, Kerala. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest colleges in India. Located in the heart of the city, the college is spread over a campus of on the ban ...

. Ashitha was married to K. V. Ramankutty and had a daughter, Uma Praseedha. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and was undergoing treatment when she died on 27 March 2019, at 62, survived by her husband, daughter and son-in-law.

Legacy

Ashitha, who authored over 20 books, was known to have portrayed her life experiences through short stories and poems. Counted among the most prominent women writers in Malayalam after

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 ...

and best known for her short stories, she translated a number of works of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

and

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī ( fa, جلال‌الدین محمد رومی), also known as Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā ( fa, مولانا, lit= our master) and Mevlevî/Mawlawī ( fa, مولوی, lit= my ma ...

as well as many haikus. She also adapted 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 ...

Bhagavatam The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

Jataka tales The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...

and

Aithihyamala Aithihyamala or Ithihyamala ( ml, ഐതിഹ്യമാല) (''Garland of Legends'') is a collection of century-old stories from Kerala that cover a vast spectrum of life, famous persons and events. It is a collection of legends numbering over ...

for children. Her biography, ''Athu Njanayirunnu'' (That Was I), was published by

Shihabuddin Poythumkadavu Thoniyan Puthiyapurayil Shihabuddin, better known as Shihabuddin Poythumkadavu or Shihabuddin Poithumkadavu ,( ml, ശിഹാബുദ്ദീൻ പൊയ്ത്തുംകടവ് ; born 29 October 1963) is an Indian writer, journalist ...

Awards

Ponnani Edasseri Smaraka Samithi selected Ashitha's work, ''Vismaya Chhihnangal'' for an

in 1986 and she received the Lalithambika Anterjanam Smaraka Sahitya Award in 1994. Her short story anthology, ''Thathagatha'', fetched her the

in 2000.

Kerala Sahitya Akademi The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and Malayalam literature, literature. It is situated in City of Thrissur, Kerala in India. History The academy ...

selected ''Ashithayude Kathakal'', another short story anthology, for its annual award for story in 2015. She was also a recipient of Ankanam Award and Thoppil Ravi Foundation Award.

Selected works

Short stories

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Novels and novellas

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Poetry

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Children's literature

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Translations

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Memoirs

Others

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In compilations

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control 1956 births 2019 deaths People from Thrissur district Poets from Kerala Indian women short story writers Indian women poets Malayalam-language writers Malayalam poets Malayalam short story writers Maharaja's College, Ernakulam alumni 21st-century Indian translators 21st-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers Women writers from Kerala Indian women translators 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian novelists Deaths from cancer in India 20th-century translators 20th-century Indian women