Priya A. S.

Priya A. S. (born 28 May 1967), born Priya Anandavalli Sadashivan, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Her oeuvre encompasses short stories, children's literature, translations, and memoirs. She is a three-time recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and a recipient of the national Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize and the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar (2023).

She is best known for her translation of Arundhati Roy's Booker Prize-winning novel The God of Small Things into Malayalam, titled Kunju Karyangalude Odeythampuran. Roy herself has stated that although the novel has been translated into several languages, no other translation holds as much significance to her as the Malayalam version, as it is the language of the novel's central characters.

Early life and education She had a difficult childhood owing to recurring illnesses, which confined her to hospital stays for extended periods. She has described how the experience of illness turned her towards reading and eventually writing as a means of engaging with the world beyond her immediate circumstances.

After completing her schooling at E.C.E.K Union High School, Kuthiyathodu, she enrolled at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, where she graduated with a degree in English literature.

Career

Administrative career Priya worked in administrative positions at Mahatma Gandhi University before joining Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in Kochi, where she served for over two decades. She retired from CUSAT in 2023 as a section officer.

Literary career Malayalam writer Priya A. S. at the launch of her book “Oru Bhoomi Oru Veedu Oru Thankakkutti” at Mathrubhumi Books, Kaloor, photographed on 6 March 2026 by Arun Bhavana (CC BY-SA 4.0). Priya entered the Malayalam literary scene during her college years at Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, through short stories published in prominent Malayalam magazines. Her initial works appeared in the children's section of Mathrubhumi, including the story "Achan", which was later featured in Mathrubhumi Weekly. Senior students studying MA Malayalam at her college hostel recognized her from her children's magazine stories and offered encouragement, which she has credited as an early source of confidence.

Translations Her most celebrated translation was Kunju Karyangalude Odeythampuran, the Malayalam rendering of Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, and the Malayalam translation of Jaishree Misra’s acclaimed English novel Ancient Promises. Set in Kerala and dealing with themes of caste, forbidden love, and social taboos, the translation was praised for its authentic integration of local idioms and rhythmic patterns. Roy endorsed the translation as the most significant among all language editions of the novel.

When her son Tanmoy was young, she captured his childhood in the collection Ammem Kunjunneem Kunjunneem Ammem, which received widespread recognition and won the Siddhartha Literary Award in 2012.

Her most celebrated children's work is the novel Perumazhayathe Kunjithalukal (The Children Who Never Withered), published on 1 November 2018 by Poorna Publications as part of the Sammanapothi series edited by K. Sreekumar. The novel was inspired by the 2018 Kerala floods. While working at CUSAT during the floods, Priya witnessed the relief camps set up on campus by the university's Department of Instrumentation, where she observed children from diverse backgrounds displaying resilience and unity in the face of the natural disaster. She has stated that her original story idea was entirely transformed by the experience of the floods, and every life she observed at the relief camp became an inspiration for the novel. The novel's publication marked the inauguration of the children's literature section on IE Malayalam, the Malayalam news portal of The Indian Express. and the national Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar in 2023, which carries a cash prize of 50,000 and an engraved copper plaque. The Malayalam jury for the 2023 award comprised Dr Paul Manalil, Mundoor Sethumadhavan, and B. S. Rajeev, who selected her novel from among ten recommended works.

Personal life Priya has a son, Tanmoy, also known as Kunjunni. Following her retirement from CUSAT in 2023, she resides in her ancestral home at Eramalloor in Alappuzha district.