PRESS RELEASE
Fiction writers’ meet at Biennale Litfest traces literary history of Kochi
Kochi, Mar 16: Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) triggered a range of thoughts on the literary
heritage of this city, as the three-day ‘Goshree Peruma’ festival held on its sidelines traced a
whole range of developments in its world of letters.
A Sunday session at the Aspinwall House venue of KMB’14 saw a milestone novel coming into
sharp focus when contemporary writer P F Mathews presented his paper on Kochi in fiction.
At the festival being organised by Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) in association
with Akashvani Kochi FM, Maharaja’s College Old Students Association and Changampuzha
Cultural Centre, Edappally, Mathews spoke on 1906-published ‘Parishkaravijayam’ penned
by Variath Peter, acknowledging it as the first fictional work in Malayalam prose with this city
as the overarching backdrop.
“This can be considered the first literary work in Malayalam with Kochi as the backdrop,” he
said in the session named ‘Kochiyude Kathakal’ (Kochi in Fiction) at the main KMB’14 venue
in Fort Kochi.
‘Kochi in Letters’, with writer N S Madhavan as the artistic director and Keli Ramachandran
as the curator, had its third day dedicated to the fictional literature of the region. It concluded
with the presentation of traditional story-telling art-forms Blaveli (by Thurvaur Kuttappan)
and Chakyarkoothu (Kalamandalam Eswaranunni).
Earlier, Mathews, while cutting to more recent times, also discussed Madhavan’s ‘Lanthan
Batheriyile Luthiniyakal’ (2003), hailed the award-winning novel in its portrayal of the multicultural lifestyle of Kochi and weaving in its socio-ethnic complexities.
He delved into how other Malayalam writers who brought Kochi to forefront through their
writings, citing Johny Miranda (author of 2004 novel ‘Jeevichirikkunavarkku Vendiyulla
Opees’), V V K Vallath, Sethu and Thomas Joseph.
“Whenever our writers explore Kochi in their fictional works, they always tend to dig the
history of the region. They examine the influence of foreign invasions that have happened
here; it is an important practice,” said Mathews, who is author of the 1996 novel
‘Chaavunilam’ and has scripted the screenplay for the award-winning Malayalam movie
‘Kutty Srank’.
Senior writer Vaishakhan presided over the function, where KBF president Bose
Krishnamachari was also present.
KMB’14 Director of Programmes Riyas Komu felicitated Sunil P Elayidom for having won the
latest Kerala Sahithya Academy’s award for the Best Literary Critic.
In his speech, Elayidom talked on his views about the ongoing biennale, saying that the 108day contemporary-art festival had immense relevance in present times.
“The biennale artworks are, in a sense, the portrayal of an unclear and unknown history.
They are beyond the knowledge of mankind, but always capable of provoking us to seek for
it,” he added.
Septuagenarian Narayan, considered as Kerala’s first tribal novelist and acclaimed for his
work ‘Kocharethi’, also attended the function.
After the felicitation ceremony, a line-up of writers read out passages from their works that
bore the essence of Kochi’s culture and life style. Besides Madhavan, they included Jamal
Kochangadi, George Thundiparambil, Johny Miranda, Samad Panayappalli, Marian Joseph,
Thomas Joseph and Bonny Thomas.
ENDS