Sarah Joseph (author)
Sarah Joseph | |
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![]() Sarah Joseph | |
Born | 1946 (age 74–75) Thrissur, Cochin State, British India |
Occupation | Writer |
Period | Feminism |
Genre | Novel, short story, essay |
Literary movement | Feminist literature |
Notable works | Aalahayude Penmakkal, Puthuramayanam, Oduvilathe Suryakanthi |
Sarah Joseph (born 1946) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in Malayalam. She won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Vayalar Award for her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal (Daughters of God the Father). She is a leader of the feminist movement in Kerala and is the founder of the activist organization Manushi. She joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 and contested the 2014 parliament elections from Thrissur.
Biography[]
Sarah Joseph was born into a conservative Christian family[1] at Kuriachira in Thrissur city in 1946 to Louis and Kochumariam. She was married at the age of 15[2] when she was in class IX. She attended the teacher's training course and began her professional career as a school teacher. Later, she received her B.A. and M.A. in Malayalam as a private candidate and joined the collegiate service in Kerala. She served as a Professor of Malayalam at Sanskrit College, Pattambi. She has since retired from government service and lives at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur district.
Sarah Joseph is also a well-known social activist and feminist movement leader.[2][3] In the 1980s, she founded the women's group Manushi at Sankrit College in Pattambi, where she also taught Malayalam and literature.[2] With her group, she led protests over several decades in response to a wide range of crimes against women, including rape, dowry deaths, trafficking, and sexual slavery.[2]
She joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014,[3][4] and was fielded by the party as a candidate from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 parliament elections,[5] but lost to C. N. Jayadevan of Communist Party of India.
Literary career[]
Her literary career began when she was in high school. Many of her poems appeared in Malayalam weeklies. She was also good at reciting her poems at poets' meets which was much appreciated by poets like Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon and Edasseri Govindan Nair.[6]
She has published a trilogy of novels which includes Aalahayude Penmakkal, Mattathi, and Othappu.[7][1] Othappu has been translated into English by Valson Thampu under the title Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side.[8][9] Her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal won her three major awards – the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award, the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Vayalar Award.[2][10] It also received the Cherukad Award.[11]
She is known for Ramayana Kathakal, a retelling of the Ramayana.[12] An English translation of this work has been published by the Oxford University Press.[13][14][15]
In 2011, she won the Muttathu Varkey Award for her collection of short stories titled Papathara.[2][16] A collection of her short stories translated into English, The Masculine of ‘Virgin’ was released in 2012, including her story Papathara, from the collection that led K. Satchidanandan to create the word "Pennezhuthu," which was defined by The Hindu as "writing seen as a feminist concept, in which the author uses female constructions of identity."[17]
She is also the recipient of the first O. V. Vijayan Sahitya Puraskaram in 2011 for her novel Ooru Kaval. In 2012 she won the Padmaprabha Literary Award.[18]
On 10 October 2015, Joseph joined a protest by writers when she returned her 2003 Sahitya Akademi Award, stating, "There is a growing fear and lack of freedom under the present government", and criticising silence by the Sahitya Akademi in response murders of writers and mob violence.[19]
Selected works[]
- Short stories
- Raktachandran (The Blood-Moon)[7]
- Dukhavelli (The Good Friday)[7]
- Manassile Thee Matram (1973)
- Kadinte Sangeetham (1975, anthology of short stories)
- Pathalappadikal (Steps to the Netherworld)[7]
- Papathara (The Ground of Sin)[7]
- Prakasiniyude Makkal (Prakasini’s Children)[7]
- Dampatyam (In Marriage)[7]
- Oduvilathe Suryakanthi
- Nilavu Nirayunnu
- Puthuramayanam
- Kaadithu Kandaayo Kaanthaa
- Nanmathinmakalude Vriksham (anthology of short stories) (The Tree of Knowledge)[1]
- Retelling the Ramayana: Voices from Kerala, translated by Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan, OUP, 2005
- The Masculine of the Virgin, translated by J. Devika, OUP, 2013
- Novels
- Aalahayude Penmakkal (The Daughters of Alaha)[7][1]
- Maattaathi (The Woman-Enemy)[7]
- Othappu
- Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side, translated by Valson Thampu, OUP, 2009[7]
- Aathi[20]
- Ooru Kaval[7]
- Aalohari Anandam
- Ati (A Gift of Green)[7][21][22]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Babu Paul, D. (19 July 2009). "Cross Examination". Indian Express. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Santhosh, K. (12 June 2011). "A voice against violation". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Binduraj, J (11 January 2014). "Kerala opens up to AAP, writer-activist Sara Joseph to join Arvind Kejriwal". India Today. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ Special Correspondent (13 January 2014). "Sara Joseph joins AAP". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
Updated May 13, 2016
- ^ Parsai, Gargi (1 March 2014). "AAP fields author Sara Joseph against Chacko". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
Updated May 19, 2016
- ^ Panjikaran, Mariamma. "Sarah Joseph – A writer of women, for women" (PDF). Government of Kerala. Retrieved 20 March 2010.[dead link]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Satchidanandan, K (3 April 2015). "Finding her voice". Frontline. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Wages of freedom". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 6 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ "Veiled passions: 'Othappu' by Sarah Joseph and 'Amen' by Sister Jesme". himalmag.com. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ "Sarah Joseph bags Vayalar Award". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 October 2004. Archived from the original on 4 November 2004. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ "ചെറുകാട് അവാര്ഡ് സാറാജോസഫിന്". Oneindia (in Malayalam). 2 October 2000. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ Nagpaul, Dipti (10 November 2015). "Our many Ramayanas: Feminist writer Sarah Joseph and her son Vinaykumar KJ retell the epic". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Retelling the Ramayana". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 August 2005. Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ Smith, Bonnie G. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: Kaffka. 3. Oxford University Press. p. 570. ISBN 9780195148909. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ "Bridging cultures". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 14 March 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ^ "Sarah Joseph wins Muttathu Varkey Award". Malayala Manorama. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ Santhosh, K. (23 July 2012). "Wider readership for Sarah Joseph's acclaimed stories". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Padmaprabha award for Sara Joseph". . 20 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
- ^ Koshy, Sneha Mary (10 October 2015). "Another Writer Returns Award, Says, 'Not The Free India I Lived In'". NDTV. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ^ K. Santhosh (4 July 2011). "Water of love seeps through". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
- ^ Raju, Abupama (3 December 2011). "More than propaganda". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
- ^ "Gift in Green: poem of land, beauty and pain". News18. CNN-IBN. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
External links[]
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- Writers from Thrissur
- Living people
- 1946 births
- Indian women novelists
- Indian women short story writers
- Malayalam-language writers
- Malayalam novelists
- Malayalam short story writers
- Indian women's rights activists
- Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Malayalam
- Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award
- Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election
- 21st-century Indian short story writers
- Aam Aadmi Party politicians
- 21st-century Indian politicians
- 21st-century Indian novelists
- 20th-century Indian novelists
- 20th-century Indian women writers
- 21st-century Indian women writers
- Women writers from Kerala
- Activists from Kerala
- Politicians from Thrissur
- Novelists from Kerala