O. V. Vijayan

Ottupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan (2 July 1930 – 30 March 2005), 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), Vijayan was the author of six novels, nine short-story collections, and nine collections of essays, memoirs and reflections.

Born in Palakkad in 1930, Vijayan 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''), Vijayan's 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.

Vijayan authored many volumes of short stories, which range from the comic to the philosophical and show a diversity of situations, tones and styles. Vijayan 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''. Provided by Wikipedia