N. K. Desam

N. Kuttikrishna Pillai (31 October 1936 – 4 February 2024), better known as N. K. Desam, was an Indian Malayalam-language poet and literary critic from the southern state of Kerala. In 2009, his poetry collection Mudra won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. In 2017, his Malayalam transliteration of Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore was selected for the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize.

Biography N. K. Desam was born on 31 October 1936 in Desom village near Alwaye. He was an officer at the Life Insurance Corporation and retired in 1996. He was married to R. Leelavathi and had three children. He started writing from the early age of twelve and went on to publish more than 10 poetry collections. His first collection 'Anthimalari ' was published in 1973. In 2016, he received the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for the translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’ in Malayalam language.

N. K. Desam died on 4 February 2024, at a hospital in Kodungallur. He was 87. His body was cremated the next day. Hundreds of people gathered at his cremation site along with local Policemen to pay their last tribute. 1987: Kavanakuthukam Award (Trichur) – Anthyapranamam 1984: Nattarangu (Trivandrum) – Total contribution 1992: Bodhi (Aluva) – Total contribution 2007: Sahodaran Ayyappan Award (Cherai) – Mudra 2007: Odakkuzhal Award (Cochin) – Mudra 2008: Nalappadan Award (Punnayurkkulam) – Mudra 2008: Vennikulam (Thodiyur) – Mudra 2009: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (Trichur) – Mudra 2009: Katharagam (Bangalore) – Mudra 2010: Changampuzha Award (Cochin) – Mudra 2011: Cherukad Award (Perithalmanna) – Mudra 2013: Asan Prize (Chennai) – Total contribution 2013: Krishnankutty Memorial Award (Trichur) – Contribution to Aksharaslokam 2013: Mukthakam (Trichur) 2013: Kavikulapathi (Pambakuda) 2017: Paanini Puraskaaram (Mavelikkara) 2013: Kaliyath Damodaran Award (Trichur) – Gitanjali 2017: Mukthakasree (Chengamanad) – Total contribution 2017: Chethala Vaishnavam (Shoranur) – Total contribution 2016: Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize (Chandigarh) – Gitanjali (Translation) 2018: Ulloor Award (Trivandrum) – Mudra 2019: Ettumanoor Somadasan Award (Ettumanoor) – Various works 2020: Sanjayan Award