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Sarah Joseph (author)

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For the British journalist, see Sarah Joseph (editor).

Sarah Joseph
Sarah Joseph
Sarah Joseph
Born1946 (1946) (age 78)
Thrissur, Kingdom of Cochin, British India
(present day Kerala, India)
OccupationWriter
PeriodFeminism
GenreNovel, short story, essay
Literary movementFeminist literature
Notable works

Sarah Joseph (born 1946) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in Malayalam. She won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Vayalar Award for her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal (Daughters of God the Father). She is a leader of the feminist movement in Kerala and is the founder of the activist organization Manushi. She joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 and contested the 2014 parliament elections from Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.

Biography

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Sarah Joseph was born into a conservative Christian family[1] at Kuriachira in Thrissur city in 1946 to Louis and Kochumariam.[2] She was married at the age of 15[3] when she was in class IX. She attended the teacher's training course and began her professional career as a school teacher.[2] Later, she received her B.A. and M.A. in Malayalam as a private candidate and joined the collegiate service in Kerala.[2] She served as a Professor of Malayalam at Sanskrit College, Pattambi.[2] She has since retired from government service and lives at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur district.Her daughter Sangeetha Sreenivasan is also a writer.[4]

Sarah Joseph is also a well-known social activist and feminist movement leader.[3][5] In the 1980s, she founded the women's group Manushi at Sanskrit College in Pattambi, where she also taught Malayalam and literature.[3] With her group, she led protests over several decades in response to a wide range of crimes against women, including rape, dowry deaths, trafficking, and sexual slavery.[3]

She joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014,[5][6] and was fielded by the party as a candidate from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 parliament elections,[7] but lost to C. N. Jayadevan of Communist Party of India.

Literary career

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Her literary career began when she was in high school. Many of her poems appeared in Malayalam weeklies. She was also good at reciting her poems at poets' meets which was much appreciated by poets like Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon and Edasseri Govindan Nair.[8]

She has published a trilogy of novels which includes Aalahayude Penmakkal, Mattathi, and Othappu.[9][1] Othappu has been translated into English by Valson Thampu under the title Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side.[10][11] Her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal won her three major awards – the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award, the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Vayalar Award.[3][12] It also received the Cherukad Award.[13]

She is known for Ramayana Kathakal, a retelling of the Ramayana.[14] An English translation of this work has been published by the Oxford University Press.[15][16][17]

In 2011, she won the Muttathu Varkey Award for her collection of short stories titled Papathara.[3][18] A collection of her short stories translated into English, The Masculine of ‘Virgin’ was released in 2012, including her story Papathara, from the collection that led K. Satchidanandan to create the word "Pennezhuthu," which was defined by The Hindu as "writing seen as a feminist concept, in which the author uses female constructions of identity."[19]

She is also the recipient of the first O. V. Vijayan Sahitya Puraskaram in 2011 for her novel Ooru Kaval. In 2012 she won the Padmaprabha Literary Award.[20]

On 10 October 2015, Joseph joined a protest by writers when she returned her 2003 Sahitya Akademi Award, stating, "There is a growing fear and lack of freedom under the present government", and criticising silence by the Sahitya Akademi in response murders of writers and mob violence.[21]

Selected works

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Short stories

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  • Raktachandran (The Blood-Moon)[9]
  • Dukhavelli (The Good Friday)[9]
  • Manassile Thee Matram (1973)
  • Kadinte Sangeetham (1975, anthology of short stories)
  • Pathalappadikal (Steps to the Netherworld)[9]
  • Papathara (The Ground of Sin)[9]
  • Prakasiniyude Makkal (Prakasini’s Children)[9]
  • Dampatyam (In Marriage)[9]
  • Oduvilathe Suryakanthi
  • Nilavu Nirayunnu
  • Puthuramayanam
  • Kaadithu Kandaayo Kaanthaa
  • Nanmathinmakalude Vriksham (anthology of short stories) (The Tree of Knowledge)[1]
  • Retelling the Ramayana: Voices from Kerala, translated by Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan, OUP, 2005
  • The Masculine of the Virgin, translated by J. Devika, OUP, 2013

Novels

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Babu Paul, D. (19 July 2009). "Cross Examination". Indian Express. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "സാറാ ജോസഫ്". Mathrubhumi.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Santhosh, K. (12 June 2011). "A voice against violation". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. ^ "എഴുത്തുകാര്‍ ആക്രമിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു ; നാം ജീവിക്കുന്നത് ഭീതി ഒരു അനുഭവമായി നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്ന കാലത്ത് : സാറാ ജോസഫ്". azhimukham.com (in Malayalam). 15 February 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b Binduraj, J (11 January 2014). "Kerala opens up to AAP, writer-activist Sara Joseph to join Arvind Kejriwal". India Today. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. ^ Special Correspondent (13 January 2014). "Sara Joseph joins AAP". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021. Updated May 13, 2016 {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Parsai, Gargi (1 March 2014). "AAP fields author Sara Joseph against Chacko". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021. Updated May 19, 2016
  8. ^ Panjikaran, Mariamma. "Sarah Joseph – A writer of women, for women". Government of Kerala. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Satchidanandan, K (3 April 2015). "Finding her voice". Frontline. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Wages of freedom". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 6 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Veiled passions: 'Othappu' by Sarah Joseph and 'Amen' by Sister Jesme". himalmag.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  12. ^ "Sarah Joseph bags Vayalar Award". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 October 2004. Archived from the original on 4 November 2004. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  13. ^ "ചെറുകാട് അവാര്‍ഡ് സാറാജോസഫിന്". Oneindia (in Malayalam). 2 October 2000. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  14. ^ Nagpaul, Dipti (10 November 2015). "Our many Ramayanas: Feminist writer Sarah Joseph and her son Vinaykumar KJ retell the epic". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Retelling the Ramayana". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 August 2005. Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  16. ^ Smith, Bonnie G. (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: Kaffka. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. p. 570. ISBN 9780195148909. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  17. ^ "Bridging cultures". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 14 March 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  18. ^ "Sarah Joseph wins Muttathu Varkey Award". Malayala Manorama. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  19. ^ Santhosh, K. (23 July 2012). "Wider readership for Sarah Joseph's acclaimed stories". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Padmaprabha award for Sara Joseph". Kerala Women. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  21. ^ Koshy, Sneha Mary (10 October 2015). "Another Writer Returns Award, Says, 'Not The Free India I Lived In'". NDTV. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  22. ^ K. Santhosh (4 July 2011). "Water of love seeps through". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  23. ^ Raju, Abupama (3 December 2011). "More than propaganda". The Hindu. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Gift in Green: poem of land, beauty and pain". News18. CNN-IBN. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
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