K. R. Meera

K. R. Meera (Kunnathur Meera) (born 19 February 1970) is an Indian author and journalist, who writes in Malayalam. She was born in Sasthamkotta, Kunnathur taluk, Kollam district in Kerala. She worked as a journalist in Malayala Manorama but later resigned to concentrate more on writing. She started writing fiction in 2001 and her first short story collection Ormayude Njarambu was published in 2002. Since then she has published five collections of short stories, two novellas, five novels and two children's books. She won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2009 for her short-story, Ave Maria. Her novel Aarachaar published by DC Books received several awards including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (2013), Odakkuzhal Award (2013), Vayalar Award (2014) and Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (2015). It was also shortlisted for the 2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.

Early and personal life Meera was born in Sasthamkotta, Kollam district in Kerala as the daughter of Ramachandran Pillai and Amritakumari, both professors. She read a variety of Malayalam books and started writing as early as seven or eight years old and wrote short stories and poems.

Journalistic career In 1993, she joined as a journalist in Kottayam-based Malayalam daily Malayala Manorama, and was the first female journalist to be hired at the newspaper. In 2006, following publication of several stories, Meera gave up journalism to take up writing as a full-time occupation. She was the senior sub-editor of Malayala Manorama when she resigned. During her journalistic career, she published many special stories which won her numerous awards and recognitions. She won the PUCL Human Rights National Award for Journalism in 1998 for an investigative series on the plight of women labourers in Kerala. This series also won the Chowara Parameswaran Award instituted by Kerala Press Academy. A series on children won her the Deepalaya National Journalism Award for Child Rights in 2001.

Literary career Meera's first published work was a story submitted to Mathrubhumi, a magazine, in 2000. Her other collections include K. R. Meerayude Kathakal, a collection of major 26 stories published so far, including Machakathe Thachan, Ormayude Njarambu, Mohamanja, Ave Maria, Karineela, Malakhayude Marukukal, Soorpanakha, Alif Laila and Ottapalam Kadakkuvolam.

Her early novels include Aa Maratheyum Marannu Marannu Njan, Meera Saadhu, Nethronmeelanam and Yudasinte Suvishesham. Meera Sadhu (DC Books, 2008) tells the story of an IIT graduate abandoned at a Krishna temple after going through some torrid times in her married life. Five of her short novels have been compiled into a single book titled Meerayude Novellakal (2014).

Aarachaar (Hangwoman in English) widely regarded as her masterpiece, was originally serialised in Madhyamam Weekly and was published as a book by DC Books in 2012. Set in Bengal, it tells the story of a family of executioners with a long lineage, beginning in the fourth century BC. The protagonist of the novel, Chetna, is a strong and tenacious woman who struggles to inherit this profession. According to noted literary critic M. Leelavathy, Aarachaar is one of the best literary works produced in Malayalam and follows the legacy of O. V. Vijayan's classic work Khasakkinte Itihasam. The novel received the 2013 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. It was also awarded the prestigious Odakkuzhal Award in 2013, Vayalar Award in 2014 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015. The novel has sold more than 38,000 copies (as of January 2015). Her latest novel Sooryane Aninja Oru Stree is being published in Vanitha magazine.

She has also been noted as a screenplay writer of four serials. She was credited as the associate in writing for the film Ore Kadal, a National Award winner. She is also a well-known column-writer in Malayalam.

Influences Meera cites E. V. Krishna Pillai, Kamala Das, T. Padmanabhan, S. V. Venugopan Nair, Anand, M. Mukundan, C. V. Sreeraman, O. N. V. Kurup, Sugathakumari, Paul Zacharia, and has "a long list" of Malayalam authors that influenced her works. Amongst non-Indian writers, she cites Maxim Gorky, Ayn Rand, and particularly Gabriel Garcia Marquez as a primary influences. Meera has described her work as engaging with her political environment, stating, "Every writer is a political writer. It is very difficult for any writer to shut down from what is happening in and around society. And as a writer, we reflect on what's happening in society through our writing. Writing's a mixture of conscious and unconscious creative thinking— intuition and craft—it feels very unnatural to analyse it in any other kind of systematic way.” 2013: Odakkuzhal Award - Aarachaar 2013: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel - Aarachaar 2014: Vayalar Award - Aarachaar 2015: Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award - Aarachaar 2016: Shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature - Hangwoman (Translated by J. Devika) 2018: Muttathu Varkey Award - Aarachaar