Iyyamcode Sreedharan

Iyyamcode Sreedharan (also spelled as Iyyamkode or Iyyamkodu) is a Malayalam language writer from Kerala, India. He is well known in various fields of literature, such as a travelogue writer, Aattakkatha writer, playwright, poet and biographer. He received several awards, including Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for travelogue, Kerala Kalamandalam Mukundaraja Award, and Kerala Kalamandalam Award for outstanding contribution in the field of literature.

Biography Sreedharan was born on 4 September 1941, in Puthiya veettil House in Iyyamcode near Nadapuram in the present-day Kozhikode district of Kerala. His mother, M. P. Karthayani Amma, is the sister of M. P. Narayanan Nambiar, a prominent leader of the Karshaka Sangham, a long-time farmers' movement in Kerala. He had his primary education at Nadapuram C.C. UP School. After passing tenth class from Kadathanad Rajas High School in Kozhikode District, he studied Kathakali chamayam (makeup of Kathakali artists) for three years at the Kerala Kalamandalam in Cheruthuruthy. In 1961, he joined Kollankode Rajas High School in Palakkad district as a teacher in Kathakali chamayam and later became a descendant of poet P. Kunhiraman Nair, who was a colleague there. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi for seven years and was the state secretary of the Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangh, a group of progressive literary activists. They live in their house 'Sakalya' in Vattekatte near Kollengode in Palakkad district.

Awards and honors Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions 2016. Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award 2008 for his travelogue King Lierinte Europyan Sanchara Padangal Kerala Kalamandalam M. K. K. Nair Award for outstanding contribution in the field of literature. Kerala Kalamandalam 'Mukundaraja Award' for his contributions to Kathakali. First Kaliyachan Award instituted by Cheruthuruthy Kathakali School in memory of P. Kunhiraman Nair. K. P. Kesava Menon Award First prize in the Mathrubhumi Weekly poetry competition for students, 1962 Kerala Sahitya Samithi Poetry Award 1964