George Varghese Kakkanadan (23 April 1935 – 19 October 2011)

George Varghese Kakkanadan
(23 April 1935 – 19 October 2011),
commonly known as Kakkanadan, was a Malayalam language short story writer
and novelist from Kerala state, South India. He is often credited with laying
the foundation of modernism in Malayalam literature.
He is a recipient of Kendra Sahithya Academy Award

Born in Thiruvalla to evangelist George Kakkanadan and Rosamma,
George Varghese Kakkanadan spent most of his childhood at Kollam and Kottarakkara.
After completing BSc chemistry from SN College, Kollam, Kakkanadan started his
career as a school teacher in Kerala. He quit the job to join Southern Railway
in Tamil Nadu as an officer and later shifted to Ministry of Indian Railways
in New Delhi in late 1950s. In early 1960s, he shot into prominence as one of
the most promising writers in Malayalam and was among the pioneers of the
modernist trend in Malayalam literature. He went to Germany in 1967 on a
scholarship to pursue research in literature but abandoned it midway and
returned to Kerala to become a full-time writer. He won the Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award
for his shortstory collection "Aswathamavinte Chiri" in 1980 and for his novel "Orotha" in 1984.
In 2005 he won the Kendra Sahithya Akademi Award for "Jappana Pukayila" and in 2008 he
was bestowed with the Kerala Sahithya Akademi Fellowship. Kakkanadan was a craze among
the younger generation of Kerala during the 1960s and 1970s.

The 2011 First Kakanadan Malayalam Literature Award - Call for submissions

The 2011 First Kakanadan Malayalam Literature Award -

Call for submissions

Chennai:Kakkanadan memorial trust, chennai invite entries from the interested
authors for the first Best 'Kakanadan memorial Malayalam literature Award-2011',carrying a cash prize of Rs.25,000 and silpa in malayalam language.
The books to be submitted for consideration of Award must have been published during the
preceding three years i.e between 01-01-2009 and 31-12-2011. Nominations for the prize may be made by authors, publishers, or interested third parties (with the consent of the author).
We invite entries in the following genres: Novels, Story's,travel writing,translations,and biography books.  To enter a book into the competition, authors or publishers should send four copies with one page Biography of the author to," Managing trusty, Kakanadan Memorial Trust, 295, PallavanNagar,Thiruverkadu, Chennai-600077, Tamilnadu.
The deadline for publishers/authors to send their entries is June 6, 2012.
Authors of Indian origin whose books have been published in India are eligible for the Award.
Publications must be in Malayalam or translated into Malayalam from an Indian language. Books that have been published elsewhere and have already won prizes are eligible, though less likely to win.