Sangeetha Sreenivasan

Sangeetha Sreenivasan is a novelist, children's writer, translator, Guitarist and teacher from Kerala, India. She writes in Malayalam and English and also translates into both languages. In 2020, she received Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Translation for ''Upekshikkappetta Dinangal'', the Malayalam translation of the novel ''The Days of Abandonment'' by Italian author Elena Ferrante. She is the daughter of writer activist Sarah Joseph.

Biography

Sangeetha was born on July 19, 1975, in Mulankunnathkavu in Thrissur district of Kerala to writer Sarah Joseph and the public activist Kottakkal Joseph. She is known in various fields of literature like novel, children's literature, translation and also is a guitarist and teacher. She who holds a master's degree in English Literature from Kerala Verma College, Thrissur works as a teacher in the Kerala Government Higher Secondary Department.

Personal life

Sangeetha and her husband architect P. K. Sreenivasan have one daughter, Medha Sreenivasan.

Literary career

Sangeetha first started writing in English. In 2004, one of her story was published in ''Indian Literature'' magazine. Her first short story collection in English, ''Penguins Who Lost the March'' was published by Yathi books. She later wrote two children's books, ''Vellimeenchattam'' and ''Kallithallakal Vs Sinkakkuttikal''. ''Aparakanthi'' is Sangeetha's first novel. She later translated her second novel ''Acid'' in Malayalam, to English. She says she wants to write about women's lives without a barrier and about women's sexuality. She says that her mother's influence on her writing and life is immense.

Receptions

Methil Radhakrishnan has dedicated his book ''Methil Kavithakal'' to Sangeetha and wrote "to my best friend who wrote the book ''Penguin Who Lost the March''" in the introduction.

Actor and director Madhupal decided to make her novel ''Aparakanthi'' into a film and Sangeetha wrote the script as per his request but due to some circumstances the film was later cancelled.

Novel ''Acid''

Sangeetha's most critically acclaimed novel is ''Acid'', originally written in Malayalam and later translated to English. Sonali Majumdar from Hindustan Times wrote ''Acid'' as a tempestuous and turbulent trip, which is hallucinogenic, haywire, and is filled with a melancholia that is hard to shake off. Writer K. R. Meera in a review published in The Hindu, wrote that the book is likely a first book to go deep into unapologetic handling of same-sex affinity between two women. In a review published in The Telegraph India, S. D. Chaudary states that, as the possessor of a loneliness unique to each character, the novel does not deny the complexities of life that the characters go through. She also wrote that the image used to describe the emptiness of the characters is strong. Apoorva Sripathi of ''Scroll.in'' describes ''Acid'' as a hallucinatory novel that overturns traditional ideas of family and motherhood. Rahul Radhakrishnan from Indian express writes that, in ''Acid'', Sangeetha combines the life of insecure characters with Middle-class urban life, nuclear family unrest, marital discomfort, variations of sexuality, the intensity of intoxication, the new generation of definitions of human relationships, and above all, the colors, rhythms, and stumbles of a metropolis that never sets at night.

Works

Novels

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Translations

*. Translation of Elena Ferrante's ''Days of Abandonment''
*. Translation of her own Malayalam novel ''Acid''.
*. Translation of Sarah Josep's Malayalam novel ''Budhini''.
*Her translation of one of George Simenon's Maigret novels is about to publish by Mathrubhumi Books.
*She is currently translating Chris Kraus's cult feminist classic ''I Love Dick''.

Short story collection

* Children's literature
* Children's literature.
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Awards and honors

* Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Translation 2020 for ''Upekshikkappetta Dinangal'', the Malayalam translation of the novel ''The Days of Abandonment'' by Italian author Elena Ferrante
*Thoppil Ravi award 2017 for ''Acid''(Malayalam)
*Malayattoor Award 2015 for ''Aparakanthi''
*Nooranad Haneef Novel Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sangeetha, Sreenivasan
1975 births
Malayalam-language writers
English-language writers
Indian women short story writers
Indian women novelists
Indian children's writers
Living people
Malayali people
Malayalam novelists
21st-century Indian novelists
21st-century Indian short story writers
21st-century Indian women writers
Women writers from Kerala
People from Thrissur district