Ponkunnam Varkey was a writer and activist from Kerala, India.
17 Facts About Ponkunnam Varkey
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Ponkunnam Varkey was the president of Kerala Sahitya Akademi and Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society.
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Ponkunnam Varkey has said that his childhood was not a protected one, but based on the dictum of the survival of the fittest.
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Ponkunnam Varkey was associated with the Communist Party for some time and was the secretary of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham for five years.
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Ponkunnam Varkey died on 2 July 2004, a day after his 94th birthday.
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Ponkunnam Varkey entered the literary field in 1939 with Thirumulkazhcha, a collection of poems that got rave reviews from the stalwarts of the time.
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Ponkunnam Varkey soon changed his track and chose prose, finding that drama and short story were the most effective vehicles to bring the written word close to the spoken one.
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Ponkunnam Varkey was already in the vortex of the great churning that was taking place in Kerala's social arena; he used his literary prowess to launch an uncompromising struggle against social injustice.
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In 1944, Ponkunnam Varkey started the National Book Stall, with the support of people like DC Kizhakemuri.
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Ponkunnam Varkey has published 24 volumes of short stories, 16 volumes of plays, two collection of poems one collection of essays and a volume of autobiography.
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The recurrent themes of Ponkunnam Varkey's writings are the decadence in the echelons of power and the corruption among the clergy.
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Ponkunnam Varkey's style is direct, simple and unostentatious and the characters of his stories are ordinary rural folk, mostly farmers and workers.
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Ponkunnam Varkey's writing expedited the evolution of a congenial atmosphere for social change in the first half of the 20th century in India.
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In 1973 Ponkunnam Varkey was nominated as the president of Kerala Sahitya Akademi.
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Ponkunnam Varkey wrote screenplays for several films and produced two films.
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Ponkunnam Varkey worked for films like Asha Deepom, Snehaseema, Bharya, Vidhithanna Vilakku, School Master and many others.
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Ponkunnam Varkey was an honorary member of Malayalam Cine Technicians' Association.