Ottupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan

Born: 2 July 1930

Died: 30 March 2005

• He commonly known as O. V. Vijayan was an Indian author and cartoonist, who was an important figure in modern Malayalam language literature.
• Best known for his first novel Khasakkinte Itihasam (1969), he was the author of six novels, nine short-story collections, and nine collections of essays, memoirs, and reflections.
• Born in Palakkad in 1930, he graduated from Victoria College in Palakkad and obtained a master’s degree in English literature from Presidency College, Madras.
• He wrote his first short story, “Tell Father Gonsalves”, in 1953.
• Khasakkinte Itihasam (The Legends of Khasak), his first novel, appeared in 1969.
• It set off a great literary revolution and cleaved the history of Malayalam fiction into pre-Khasak and post-Khasak.
• While Khasakkinte Itihasam continues to be his best-known work as an angry young man, his later works, Gurusagaram (The Infinity of Grace), Pravachakante Vazhi (The Path of the Prophet) and Thalamurakal (Generations) bespeak a mature transcendentalist.
• He authored many volumes of short stories, which range from the comic to the philosophical and show a diversity of situations, tones, and styles.
• He translated most of his own works from Malayalam to English.
• He was also an editorial cartoonist and political observer and worked for news publications including The Statesman and The Hindu.

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