Lalitha Lenin (born 17 July 1946, in Thrithalloor,

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

) is an Indian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

. K. K. Lalitha Bai (her official name) was also the Head of the Department of Library and Information Science,

University of Kerala University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithi ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. In addition, she was a member in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and Academic Council of the

, General Council of

Kerala Sahitya Academy The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam Literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and literature. It is situated in the city of Thrissur, Kerala in India. History The academy was inaugurated on ...

, Jansikshan Sansthan Management Board, Governing Body of the State Institute of Children's Literature, State Resource Centre, Kerala State Core Group on Continuing Education. She was also a member of the Governing Body of the State Institute of Languages.

Personal life

Lalitha Lenin was born in 1946 at Thrithalloor,

. She is married to Mr. K. M. Lenin who is also a writer and columnist dealing with international affairs. Her son, Anil Lale and her daughter-in-law Bidushi Lale are both lawyers and are working in Mumbai.

Background

She graduated from the

with degrees in Chemistry, Education and Library Science. She was awarded the Dr. S.R. Ranganathan Gold Medal for securing first Rank in Master of Library Science Degree Examination from the University of Mysore in 1976. She joined as Assistant Librarian at Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, Thrissur in 1977. In 1979, she became a lecturer at Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kerala. From 1990 to 1995 she served as the Head of the Department. She retired as associate professor from the department on 31 March 2006.

Bibliography

Lenin has been contributing poems, short-stories and articles to mainstream periodicals since 1971.

Poetry collections

* ''Karingili'' (1976) * ''Karkidavaavu'' (1995) * ''Namukku Praarthikkaam'' (2000) * ''Kadal'' (poems for children) (2000)

Novel

* ''Minnu'' (novel for children)

Television programmes

* Lyrics for ''Mahabali'', Thiruvananthapuram

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

(1987). * Script for a documentary on ''Library Movement in Kerala'', produced for Thiruvananthapuram Doordarshan(1988). * Stories for two television serials ''Oridathorikkal'' (1990) and ''Mookkuthiyum Manchadiyum'' (1998) in Thiruvananthapuram Doordarshan. * Presentation of the

Television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

Programme ''Aksharam'' (16 episodes) in Thiruvananthapuram Doordarshan (1999). * Judge on Kairali TV's poetry based reality show Mampazham (2010)

General

* ''Puthiya Vaayana'', a book on reading for women.

Translations

* ''Public Library Sevanam'' (2006) (Tr. of ''Public Library Service: IFLA/UNESCO Guidelines for Development'', Munchen: K.G. Saur, 2001) * ''Bhoodaivangal'' (Tr. of ''The Earth Gods'') in the Malayalam translation of Works of Kahlil Gibran. Kottayam, DC Books, 2002

Academics

She has 12 papers in the discipline of Library and Information Science to her credit.

Awards

Lalitha Lenin's book, ''Minnu'', was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

in 1986. She is also a recipient of the Abudhabi Shakti Award for poetry in 1996 and the Moolur Award for poetry in 2001.

References

External links

Official website of Lalitha Lenin

Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kerala

Issue of Muse India: The literary journal featuring Lalitha Lenin also
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenin, Lalitha Living people 1946 births Malayalam poets Indian women novelists Writers from Thrissur district Academic staff of the University of Kerala Scholars from Kerala Indian women poets Indian librarians 20th-century Indian chemists Indian women chemists Scientists from Kerala Writers from Kerala Indian women librarians Indian women screenwriters 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian scientists 20th-century Indian women scientists Women writers from Kerala Women scientists from Kerala Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award