Kunhunni Mash

Background

Kunjunni was born in the village of Valapad in Thrissur to Njayapilly Illathu Neelakantan Moosath and Athiyarathu Narayani Amma on 10 May 1927.

Career

He was considered as a children"s poet and his poems were short like him. He always led a humble life. Kunjunni started his career as a teacher at the Chelari school.

He was an inmate of the Ashrama and taught, looked after and interacted with the hostel boys there.

He retired from teaching in 1982 but continued to live in the Ashrama, which he had found to be most suitable for his unostentatious life and writings known for their simplicity, till he retired to his district for health reasons. Kunjunni died in his ancestral house at Valapad on 26 March 2006.

2014: "Mayilpeeli thundum vala pottukalum": a docufiction. Kunjunni Mash is portrayed by Krishnan Namboothiri.

Achievements

• Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (1974, 1984). State Institute of Children"s Literature Award (1982). Kerala Sahitya Akademi Lifetime Achievement Award (1988). State Institute of Children"s Literature lifetime achievement award (2002). Vazhakunnuam Award (2002). Victoria and Albert Kesavan Nair Award (2003). Tomyas Award.