K. Sukumaran

K. Sukumaran (20 May 1876 – 11 March 1956) was a short story writer, humourist, poet, essayist and playwright from Malabar, India. He was one of the pioneers of the short story in Malayalam. He is sometimes referred to as Malabar K. Sukumaran to distinguish him from other writers with similar names.

Life K. Sukumaran was born on 20 May 1876 to Kambil Thattailathu Govindan and Idamalathu Neely. His uncle Diwan Bahadur E. K. Krishnan was a sub-judge in Calicut. Sukumaran stayed with his uncle and did his schooling. He studied at Norman School, Municipal School and Basel Mission School. He passed his matriculation in 1890 as a private candidate as he was underage. He completed his Intermediate from Telicherry Brennen College and Palghat Victoria College. He graduated in Zoology from Madras Presidency College in 1894. According to K. M. George, even though there is monotony in many of K. Sukumaran's stories, they provide light entertainment because of the snatches of humour and they became very popular at the time because of their witty dialogues and lucid prose. Literary critic P. K. Parameswaran Nair notes that although K. Sukumaran's themes are not profound or his treatment artistic, the stories make interesting reading because of the humour with which they are generously treated and the clever talk of the characters. Nair also observes that Sukumaran's treatment of sringara often borders on the obscene. According to Sukumar Azhikode, love and romance dominated the themes of K. Sukumaran's stories. According to him, "the unrestrained use of wit and humour gave the stories of K. Sukumaran remarkable entertainment value", but "it destroyed the artistic unity of his creations".