Muttathu Varkey | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1913-04-28)28 April 1913 |
| Died | 28 May 1989(1989-05-28) (aged 76) |
| Occupation(s) | Novelist, poet |
| Notable work |
|
Muttathu Varkey (28 April 1913 – 28 May 1989) was an Indian novelist,short story writer, and poet ofMalayalam.[1][2] He was best known for a genre of sentiment-filled romantic fiction known aspainkili (janapriya) novel inMalayalam literature, named after his famous novelPaadatha Painkili.[3]
Varkey was born inChethipuzha, a small village nearChanganassery inKottayam district,Kerala. Completed his pre degree and degree fromSB College Changanasserry, he began his career as a school teacher atSaint Berchmans High School, Changanassery. He then took up the job of an accountant in atimber factory. For a brief period, Varkey taught in a Tutorial College run byM. P. Paul. He then joinedDeepika newspaper as an associatededitor and remained there for next 26 years until his retirement in 1974.
Muttathu Varkey emerged as one of the popular writers of Malayalam fiction.[4] He along withKanam EJ was prominent in popularizing a genre of sentiment-filled pulp fiction known aspainkili novel in Malayalam literature.[5] He was a prolific writer and has penned a total of 132 books, including 65 novels. The rest of his works include collections of short stories,plays, and poetry. Many of his novels were adapted intoMalayalam films,[6] including thePrem Nazir starrerPadatha Painkili (1957),Inapravukal (1965),Velutha Kathreena (1968),Mayiladum Kunnu (1972) and theSathyan starrerKarakanakadal (1971).
Muttathu Varkey Foundation has instituted the Muttathu Varkey Award to be presented yearly to Malayalm writers. The winner is selected by popular vote with final decisions made by prominent judges.[7] The prominent winners of the award include,O. V. Vijayan (1992),Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1993),M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1994),Kovilan (1995),Kakkanadan (1996),VKN (1997),M. Mukundan (1998),Punathil Kunhabdulla (1999),Anand (2000),N. P. Mohammed (2001),Ponkunnam Varkey (2002),Sethu (2003),C. Radhakrishnan (2004),Zacharia (2005),Kamala Surayya (2006),T. Padmanabhan (2007),M. Sukumaran (2008),N.S. Madhavan (2009),P. Valsala (2010),Sarah Joseph (2011),N Prabhakaran (2012)C. V. Balakrishnan (2013),Asokan Charuvil (2014),K. Satchidanandan (2015),K. G. George (2016),T. V. Chandran (2017) andK. R. Meera (2018)[8]
