Novel is based on the life of India's first hangwoman Chetna Grddha Mullick
Thiruvananthapuram: K.R. Meera’s novel ‘Aarachar’ has won the 38th Vayalar Rama Varma memorial literary award for 2014. The award carrying a cash prize of Rs 25,000, a statuette and a citation was announced by Vayalar trust president M.K. Sanoo. A committee comprising critic A.M. Sreedharan and poets Amritha and Prabha Varma selected her for the award which will be presented on October 27.
The novel is based on the life of India's first hangwoman Chetna Grddha Mullick, who shot into limelight with the execution of Dhananjay Chatterjee, convicted for rape and murder. The novel with Bengal as its background was published in Malayalam in 2012, and it was translated into English also.
The late Vayalar Rama Varma, often referred to as Vayalar, was a modern Malayalam poet and lyricist whose anthology of poems included Sargasangeetham, Mulankaadu, Padamudrakal, Aayisha and Oru Judas Janikkunnu.
Meera, a contemporary Malayalam short story writer, had earlier won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009 for her collection of short stories, Ave Maria. A native of Sasthamkotta, she had worked as a journalist in a Malayalam daily, but later resigned to concentrate on writing. Her other novels include Nethromeelanam, Meerasadhu and Aa Maratheyum Marannu Marannu Njan. Her collections of short stories comprise Ormayude Njarambu, Moha Manja and K. R. Meerayude Kathakal.
Published by DC Books, the novel containing over 500 pages has been a best seller with over 11,000 copies sold so far.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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