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Kamala Surayya

カマラ・スラヤー

Kamala Surayya

Aliases: Kamala Das / Madhavikutty / Nalapat Kamala
Pen Names: Madhavikutty（Pen name used primarily for Malayalam short stories and memoirs）, Kamala Das（Used for English-language poems and works (also used as married name)）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1934-03-31 （Punnayurkulam, Thrissur district, Kerala, India）
Died
2009-05-31 （Pune, Maharashtra, India） age 75
Nationality
India
Languages
English, Malayalam
Religion
Islam (converted) Baptized in 1999 （Baptismal Name: Kamala Surayya）
Residence History
Calcutta (Kolkata) → Punnayurkulam, Kerala → Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala → Pune, Maharashtra

Career

Occupations
Poet, Novelist, Short story writer, Columnist, Translator
Active Years
1950-2009
Affiliations
Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Vice-chairperson), Kerala Forestry Board (Chairperson), Kerala Children's Film Society (President), Poet magazine (Editor), Illustrated Weekly of India (Poetry editor)
Memberships
Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Kerala Children's Film Society
Influenced By
Anne Sexton, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Marguerite Duras, Nalapat Narayana Menon (family influence), Balamani Amma (mother)
Influenced
Generation of Indian English poets (subsequent women poets and writers), Feminist writers

Awards

PEN Asian Poetry Prize
1963
Organization: PEN
Result: winner
Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story
1968
Work: Thanuppu
Category: 短編
Organization: Kerala Sahitya Akademi
Result: winner
Sahitya Akademi Award (English)
1985
Work: Collected Poems
Category: 詩
Organization: Sahitya Akademi
Result: winner
Kerala State Film Award for Best Story
1988
Category: 映画
Organization: Kerala State
Result: winner
Vayalar Award
1997
Work: Neermathalam Pootha Kalam
Organization: Vayalar Award Committee
Result: winner
Asian Poetry Prize
1998
Organization: Asian Poetry Prize
Result: winner
Ezhuthachan Award (Ezhuthachan Puraskaram)
2002
Organization: Government of Kerala
Result: winner
Honorary D.Litt
2006
Organization: University of Calicut
Result: honorary
Muttathu Varkey Award
2006
Organization: Muttathu Varkey Award Committee
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Summer in Calcutta

1965 Poetry

A candid collection of poems about love, betrayal and anguish; considered a fresh voice in Indian English poetry.

lovelonelinessfemale self-expression
Translations
  • Translated into Malayalam, French, German and other languages

The Descendants

1967 Poetry

Contains frank poems addressing female sexuality and identity; caused controversy and established her confessional voice.

female sexualityidentityrebellion

Ente Katha / My Story

1973 Autobiography / Memoir

Autobiography originally written in Malayalam and later translated into English by the author; notable for its frank revelations about sexuality and family.

autobiographywomen's freedomfamily and love
Translations
  • English (translated by the author)

Neermathalam Pootha Kalam

1992 Autobiographical essays / Memoir

A reflective autobiographical work; received the Vayalar Award in 1997.

memorygrowing upwomen's experiences

Selected short stories (e.g. Neypayasam, Nashtappetta Neelambari)

1955 Short stories

Her Malayalam short stories earned wide recognition in Kerala; several were adapted into films and television.

marginalized peoplewomeneveryday pathos
Adaptations
  • [Film] Mazha / Lenin Rajendran (2000)
  • [Television film] Flowers of Neermaathalam / Sohanlal (2006)

Bibliography

  • Summer in Calcutta (Poetry, 1965)
  • The Descendants (Poetry, 1967)
  • Ente Katha / My Story (Autobiography, 1973)
  • Neermathalam Pootha Kalam (Autobiographical, 1992)
  • Pakshiyude Manam and other short stories

Adaptations

  • Mazha (film, 2000) - directed by Lenin Rajendran; based on the short story 'Nashtappetta Neelambari'
  • Aami (biopic, 2018) - directed by Kamal; biopic of Kamala Surayya
  • Kadhaveedu (anthology film, 2013) - directed by Sohanlal; based on three short stories including 'Neypayasam'

Translations by Author

  • Translated her Malayalam autobiography Ente Katha into English (My Story)

Translations of Works

  • Works have been translated into French, Spanish, Russian, German and Japanese

Style & Themes

Literary Style
confessionalcolloquial and candid voiceautobiographical and essayistic narration
Recurring Motifs
love and betrayalfemale sexuality and desiremother-daughter relationshipsloneliness and selfhood

Health

  • Pneumonia
    2009（晩年）
    Cause of death following a prolonged battle with pneumonia in 2009
  • Depression (reported/mentioned in accounts)
    1980年代〜1990年代（断続）
    Reportedly affected her after political setbacks and influenced periods of writing such as the Anamalai Poems

Legacy

Kamala Surayya (Kamala Das) influenced Indian English poetry and Malayalam literature with her candid, confessional voice. Controversial in her lifetime, she is regarded as a formative figure in modern Indian poetry.

Academic Societies

  • Kerala Sahitya Akademi

In Popular Culture

  • Celebrated with a Google Doodle in 2018
  • Biopic 'Aami' (2018) and multiple film/TV adaptations based on her stories
  • Her poems and autobiography are key texts in feminist and women's literature studies

Quotes

  • Firstly, I will strip myself of clothes and ornaments. Then I intend to peel off this light brown skin and shatter my bones. At last, I hope you will be able to see my homeless, orphan, intensely beautiful soul, deep within the bone...
    Source: Excerpt from autobiography Ente Katha / My Story (author's translation) (1973)
  • Gift him what makes you woman, the scent of long hair, the musk of sweat between the breasts, the warm shock of menstrual blood, and all your endless female hungers...
    Source: From the poem 'The Looking Glass' in The Descendants (1967)

Trivia

  • Married at 15 but continued a prolific literary career thereafter.
  • Converted to Islam in 1999 and took the name Kamala Surayya.
  • Died of pneumonia in 2009; body flown to Kerala and interred at Palayam Juma Masjid with state honors.
  • Her works have been widely translated and adapted into films and television.