Writer Sarah Joseph has been selected for the Kozhikode Corporation’s literary award in recognition of her overall contribution to Malayalam literature. The award was instituted by the civic body after Kozhikode was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2024.
The literary award carries a cash prize of ₹1 lakh, a memento, and a citation, and will be formally presented to Sarah Joseph at an event scheduled to be held here in mid-August.
At a press meet held here on Friday (August 1, 2025), Mayor Beena Philip announced awards for writers across various categories. Novelist R. Rajasree was selected for the women’s category for her work Aathreyakam. Santhosh Aechikkanam’s Misaru won in the children’s literature category, while Adarsh E (Aadi) received the young writer award for his poetry collection Pennappan.
In the category of translation from Kannada to Malayalam, J. Gopalakrishnan’s Tejo-Tungabhadra was selected for the award. The Greatest Malayalam Stories Ever Told by A.J. Thomas won in the category of translation from Malayalam to other languages. Winners in each of the five categories will receive a cash prize of ₹25,000, a memento, and a citation.
Only works published between 1 January 2022 and 31 May 2025 were considered. For the Young Writer category, selection was limited to authors from Kozhikode to encourage local talent, Ms. Philip said.
A three-member panel selected the winners, with category heads including Prof. S. Sivadas (children’s literature), Shahina K. Rafeeq (women), U.K. Kumaran (overall contributions), Dr. Radhika C. Nair (translations into Malayalam), and Prof. Nagesh (translations from Malayalam).
Last year, the late writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair was honoured with the Kozhikode Corporation’s Diamond Jubilee Award.
Published – August 01, 2025 11:40 pm IST