Background
Sarah Joseph was born into a conservative Christian family at Kuriachira in Thrissur city in 1946 to Louis and Kochumariam.
(Othappu is about a woman's yearning for a true understand...)
Othappu is about a woman's yearning for a true understanding of spirituality and her own sexuality. The novel is a powerful indictment of the hypocrisy that plagues Christianity in many parts of the Subcontinent. Othappu unfolds at many levels to critique notions of class, caste, antiquity, and prestige that have, over time, eroded the power of the first church. The detailed Introduction by Jancy James provides rare insights into the work and skilfully sketches the social history of Kerala, the location of the novel. Two special inclusions--Paul Zacharia on the different meanings of 'othappu' and a dialogue between the author and Githa Hiranyan--lend fresh perspectives to the work.
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novelist professor teacher writer
Sarah Joseph was born into a conservative Christian family at Kuriachira in Thrissur city in 1946 to Louis and Kochumariam.
She attended the teacher"s training course and began her professional career as a school teacher.
She also received the Vayalar Award for the same novel. She and Madhavikutty are considered among the leading women writers in Malayalam. She joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 and contested the 2014 parliament elections from Thrissur.
Later, she received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Malayalam as a private candidate and joined the collegiate service in Kerala.
She served as a Professor of Malayalam at Sanskrit College, Pattambi. She has since retired from government service and lives at Mulamkunnathukavu in Thrissur district.
Her daughter"s name is Sangeetha Srinivasan. Sarah Joseph is also a well-known social activist and was at the forefront of several agitations in Kerala.
She was an ardent left-sympathiser but joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014 and was fielded by the party as a candidate from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 parliament elections, but lost to C. North. Jayadevan of Communist Party of India.
Sarah Joseph"s literary career began very early, when she was in high school. Many of her poems appeared in Malayalam weeklies. After a short period of uncertainty she took to fiction and began writing short stories.
Her collection of short stories is considered a milestone in feminist writing in Malayalam.
She has published a trilogy of novels which includes, Mattathi, and The novel is about a woman"s yearning for a true understanding of spirituality and her own sexuality. has been translated into English by Valson Thampu under the title ": The Scent of the Other Side".
An English translation of this work has been published by the Oxford University Press.
She won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal (Daughters of God the Father). Sarah has been at the forefront of the feminist movement in Kerala and is the founder of Manushi (organisation of thinking women). Her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal won her three major awards – the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award, the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Vayalar Award. In 2011, Sarah won the Muttathu Varkey Award for her collection of short stories titled Papathara. On 10 October 2015, She returned the Sahitya Akademi Award based on her political perception that there is "fear and lack of freedom under the present government." She has won much critical acclaim for her Ramayana Kathakal, a subversive reading of the Ramayana. In 2012 she won the Padmaprabha Literary Award.
(Othappu is about a woman's yearning for a true understand...)
She was also good at reciting her poems at poets" meets which was much appreciated by poets like Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon and Edasseri Govindan Nair.
