THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: M Sukumaran joined the Accountant General’s Office in Thiruvananthapuram as a clerk in 1963. The trade union activities, however, led to his expulsion in 1974.
Sukumaran had begun his career as a writer in the 1960s, when the modernist movement was strong in Malayalam literature. He stopped writing in 1982, but broke the silence with ‘Pitrutharpanam’ in 1992. Two years later, he wrote the novel ‘Janithakam,’ his last published work. The mature phase of his writing was influenced by the affinity he felt towards the Naxalite movement.
‘Marichittillaathavarude Smarakangal’ aside, his important works include the novels - ‘Seshakriya’, ‘Paara’, ‘Azhimukham’, ‘Suddhavaayu’ and ‘Janithakam’ and short story collections such as ‘Pitrutharpanam’, ‘Charitragaatha’ and ‘Asurasankeerthanam’. Several of his works were made into films. ‘Seshakriya’ won him the state film award for the best story. ‘Pitrutharpanam’ won him the Padmarajan memorial award for the best short story in 1992. The short story collection ‘Chuvanna Chihnangal’ won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 2006.Sukumaran, who was living at Fort here, leaves behind wife Meenakshi and daughter Rajani.