14-07-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Row over naming Sahitya Akademi hall after MT; demand to honour woman writer
THRISSUR: Cultural activists and writers in Kerala are divided on the plan to name the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Hall in Thrissur in memory of legendary Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair. Sheeba Ameer and Thanuja Bhattathirippad, among others, had recently expressed their desire to have the hall named after a woman writer.
The Kerala Sahitya Akademi headquarters at Palace Road, Thrissur, has halls honouring the legacy of poets like Changampuzha and Vailoppilli within the compound. But not a single memorial has been built for women. At the same time, the main hall at the Akademi has remained without any attribution to it.
When the topic came up for discussion during the organising committee meeting for the Kerala Literature Festival, some participants raised the matter of giving a woman writer's name.
Among the several suggestions put forth, one urged the authorities to name the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Hall after Lalithambika Antharjanam as a tribute to a woman writer who made immense contributions to Malayalam literature and inspired many women to write.
