THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 42nd Vayalar Ramavarma Literary Award will be presented to writer K V Mohan Kumar on Saturday. The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs one lakh, citation and a statuette designed by sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman, will be presented to the writer for his novel ‘Ushnarashi-Karappurathinte Ithihasam’. The award will be distributed at a function at Nishagandhi at 5 pm. Mohankumar is currently the Director of Public Instruction (DPI).
It was in September that a four-member jury comprising of M K Sanu, president, Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust, M S Geetha, NSS College assistant professor Bettymol Mathew and former director of State Institute of Languages M R Thampan announced the award winner. The jury then observed that the novel about the Punnapra-Vayalar revolution is a contemporary one with a historical backdrop. It further observes that the novel is also one of the first Malayalam novels that have included Tantrik Buddhism in it.
The award that was introduced to commemorate the death anniversary of poet Vayalar Rama Varma was first presented to Lalithambika Antharjanam’s ‘Agnisakshi’ in 1977.