Kerala Sahitya Akademi Clarifies on M. Swaraj’s Award; States Books Not Sent for 11 Awards

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Secretary C.P. Aboobacker has responded to the question of who submitted M. Swaraj’s book, ‘Pookkalude Pusthakam’ (Book of Flowers), for the Akademi award. C.P. Aboobacker stated that M. Swaraj himself did not send the book for the Akademi award, and that 11 out of the 16 awards this year were given to authors who had not submitted their books.

In a Facebook post, C.P. Aboobacker also noted that Kalpetta Narayanan, who received the award for poetry in 2023, K. Veny, who won for autobiography, and B. Rajeevan, who was honored for scholarly literature, had also not submitted their books for the awards.

This clarification comes after M. Swaraj’s decision to refuse the award sparked a debate on social media, with some critics questioning whether one could receive an award without submitting a book to the Sahitya Akademi. The Akademi’s explanation followed these criticisms.