Noted poet and critic N.K. Desam, 87, died at a private hospital in Kodungalloor on February 4 night.
A native of Desam, Aluva, he was residing at his daughter’s residence in Kodungalloor. The cremation will be held at his residence in Kothakulangara, Angamaly at 3 p.m. on February 5.
Born on October 31, 1936, at Desam to Narayanapillai and Ammukuttyamma, he was an employee of the Life Insurance Corporation Ltd.
He has penned over 10 poetry collections. ‘Anthimalari’, his first collection of poems, was published in 1973. Some of his works included ‘Kanyahridayam’, ‘Appoppanthadi’, ‘Chottayilesheelam’, ‘Pavizhamalli’, ‘Ullekham’, ‘Mudra’ and ‘Anpathiyonnaksharali’. He is known for sticking to the metre and grammatical precision in his poems.
He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for poetry in 2009. In 2016, he received the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for the translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’. He has won several recognitions including the Edassery and Odakuzhal awards. ‘Deshikam’, a collective volume of his poems, was published on the occasion of his 85th birthday in October 2021.
