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Muttathu Varkey

In this Malayali name, the surname is Muttathu.

Muttathu Varkey (28 April 1913 – 28 May 1989) was an Indian novelist, short story writer, and poet of Malayalam.[1][2] He was best known for a genre of sentiment-filled romantic fiction known as painkili (janapriya) novel in Malayalam literature, named after his famous novel Paadatha Painkili.[3]

Muttathu Varkey
Born(1913-04-28)28 April 1913
Chethipuzha, Kottayam district, Kerala, India
Died28 May 1989(1989-05-28) (aged 76)
Occupation(s)Novelist, poet
Notable work
  • Oru Kudayum Kunjupengalum
  • Paadaatha Painkili
  • Azhakulla Seleena
  • Mayiladum Kunnu

Life

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Varkey was born in Chethipuzha, a small village near Changanassery in Kottayam district, Kerala. He began his career as a school teacher at Saint Berchmans High School, Changanassery. He then took up the job of an accountant in a timber factory. For a brief period, Varkey taught in a Tutorial College run by M. P. Paul. He then joined Deepika newspaper as an associated editor and remained there for next 26 years until his retirement in 1974.

Literary career

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Muttathu Varkey emerged as one of the popular writers of Malayalam fiction.[4] He along with Kanam EJ was prominent in popularizing a genre of sentiment-filled pulp fiction known as painkili 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 into Malayalam films,[6] including the Prem Nazir starrer Padatha Painkili (1957), Inapravukal (1965), Velutha Kathreena (1968), Mayiladum Kunnu (1972) and the Sathyan starrer Karakanakadal (1971).

Selected works

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  • Paadaatha Painkili
  • Oru Kudayum Kunjupengalum
  • Inapravukal
  • Karakanakkadal
  • Mayiladum Kunnu
  • Velutha Kathreena
  • Akkarappacha
  • Azhakulla Selina
  • Pattuthoovaala
  • Mriyakutty

Filmography

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Muttathu Varkey Award

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Main article: Muttathu Varkey Award

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) and K. R. Meera (2018)[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Muttathu Varkey at puzha.com
  2. ^ George, K. M. (1968). A survey of Malayalam literature. Asia Pub. House. ISBN 9780210227350.
  3. ^ Ancy Bay 2015. "At the End of the Story: Popular Fiction, Readership and Modernity in Literary Malayalam", in Satheese Chandra Bose and Shiju Sam Varughese (eds.). Kerala Modernity: Ideas, Spaces and Practices in Transition, Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, pp. 92-108.
  4. ^ Azhikode, Sukumar (1972). Malayalam short stories: an anthology. Kerala Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-0-471-92452-4.
  5. ^ Vijayakumar, B. (13 January 2013). "Old is Gold: Inapravukal (1965)". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  6. ^ "PAADATHA PAINKILI 1957". The Hindu. 14 February 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Muttathu Varkey award for Zacharia". The Hindu. 29 April 2005. Archived from the original on 13 May 2005. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
  8. ^ "Sarah Joseph wins Muttathu Varkey Award". Malayala Manorama. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
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