U. K. Kumaran

U. K. Kumaran
Born 11 May 1950
Payyoli, Kozhikode, Kerala
Occupation Writer, journalist
Language Malayalam
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode
Genre Novel, short story, essays
Notable awards Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award

U. K. Kumaran (Malayalam: യു.കെ. കുമാരന്‍; born 11 May 1950) is a Malayalam-language novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist from Kerala, India. He is a recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award.[1]

Biography

Kumaran was born in Payyoli, Kozhikode on 11 May 1950. He studied at Government AUP School, Kizhoor and Government High School, Payyoli. He obtained a degree in economics from Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode and completed diploma in Journalism and Public Relations.

He started his career as a journalist, in Veekshanam Vaarika as Assistant Editor. Later he joined Kerala Kaumudi and worked as its Kozhikode unit chief. He has held numerous posts including the State Vice-President of Kerala Pathrapravarthaka Union, Member of Kerala State Telephone Advisory Committee, Member of Calicut University Journalism Board of Studies, Vice-Chairman of Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Advisory committee member of National Book Trust and the director of Navakerala Co-operative Publishing House.

He began his literary career with a short story "Chalanam" at the age of 17. The story emerged around people whose lives and livelihood revolved around movie announcements being made with drum beats in the Payyoli market.

An element of sensitivity marks Kumaran's stories. They are held together by a spur – a smell, a sentence or a sensitive gesture. He wrote his first novel Valayam when still in college. An author of seven novels, he enjoys the wide canvas a novel presents. "It is a comprehensive landscape, peopled with characters and nature. Each character should grow and reach a point where they move towards a climax well. You cannot leave them mid-way, unfinished."[2]

He is married to Geetha. They have two children: Mridul Raj and Megha.

Awards

Kumaran has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Policukarante Penmakkal (2011) and Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair Award for Thakshankunnu Swaroopam (2012).[3][4] Other awards bestowed upon him include S. K. Pottekkatt Award, S. B. I. Sahitya Award, Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award, K. A. Kodungalloor Puraskaram, E. V. G. Puraskaram, Appan Thamburan Puraskaram, Tatapuram Sukumaran Puraskaram, J. C. Kuttikkad Puraskaram, Sahitya Samiti Puraskaram and Thoppil Ravi Puraskaram.

Works

Novels

Short story collections

Novelettes

Others

References

  1. "UK Kumaran felicitated". Mathrubhumi. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  2. P. Anima (4 August 2012). "Matters of the mind". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  3. "Sahitya Akademi awards announced". The Hindu. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  4. "Award for U.K. Kumaran". The Hindu. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.

External links