1. George Varghese Kakkanadan, commonly known as Kakkanadan, was an Indian short-story writer and novelist in the Malayalam language.
20 Facts About Kakkanadan
1. 2.
Kakkanadan's works broke away from the neo-realism that dominated Malayalam literature through the 1950s and 1960s.
3.
Kakkanadan is often credited with laying the foundation of modernism in Malayalam literature.
4.
Kakkanadan is a recipient of Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards in addition to numerous other awards and recognitions.
5.
Kakkanadan quit the job to join the Southern Railway in Tamil Nadu in 1957.
6.
Kakkanadan 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.
7.
Kakkanadan worked as an editorial member in S K Nair's Malayalanadu weekly published from Kollam, between 1971 and 1973.
8.
Kakkanadan's younger brother, Thampi, was a writer who authored several short stories and published a novel- Kalapathinte Orma.
9.
Kakkanadan has two sisters: Ammini, wife of the former Member of Parliament P A Solomon, and Annie.
10.
Kakkanadan died on 19 October 2011, aged 76, at Bishop Benziger's hospital in Kollam.
11.
Kakkanadan was buried with full state honours at the Polayathode public crematorium complex.
12.
Kakkanadan was one of the harbingers of modernism in the genres of Malayalam novel and short story.
13.
Kakkanadan's rebellion extended from his selection of themes and use of subversive language to his careful crafting of the philosophy of angst into the writing.
14.
Kakkanadan often traversed the sweat zones of life and spoke of the valleys of the unknowing.
15.
Kakkanadan's was a world of dark tones and darker people, many of them social rejects.
16.
Kakkanadan often spoke of the seamy side, the world of puss and blood.
17.
Kakkanadan's most noted short story collections are Yuddhaavasaanam, Purathekkulla Vazhi, Aswathamaavinte Chiri, Sreechakram, Alwar Thirunagarile Pannikal, Uchayillaatha Oru Divasam and Jaappaana Pukayila.
18.
Kakkanadan has other novels, short story collections, travelogues and essay collections to his credit.
19.
Kakkanadan won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for his short-story collection Aswathamavinte Chiri in 1980 and for his novel Orotha in 1984.
20.
Kakkanadan was a craze among the younger generation of Kerala during the 1960s and 1970s.