From writing random poetry to publishing a little magazine to winning the prestigious Crossword Book Award, E V Fathima has traveled the entire spectrum of literature. The English professor has taken it upon herself to transcend Malayalam literary works beyond borders.
Her translation of Subhash Chandran’s award-winning debut novel, ‘A Preface to Man’, has won the prestigious Crossword Book Award. She said that her shift to translation was accidental even though she was steeped in reading right from her childhood.
Fathima, the head of the department of English at the Krishna Menon Government Women’s College at Kannur, spoke to Onmanorama about her unexpected drift to the world of writing and her plans for the future.
Fathima said that her literary pursuit started with an occasional poem during her hectic teaching career. She has got several of her poems published in international journals. Her epiphany came when she won the first prize in a creative non-fiction contest organized by a journal in 2011.
She later found a single-page magazine along with a couple of friends to give a modest platform for the emerging writers in Malayalam and English. ‘Indian Ink’, co-founded by V H Nishad and Manoj Koyyath, had a successful run for three years.
Fathima said that she drew energy from her family. She was exposed to the translated works from many cultures even as a little girl.
Her experience with ‘Indian Ink’ convinced her to think seriously about translation. She wanted to work with one of the most successful novels in Malayalam and Chandran’s novel was a natural choice.
“Though I had ready many novels, Subhash Chandran’s Anne Maria was a character that lingered. I got his number and called him up. His first reaction was that many have tried translating the novel and failed,” Fathima said.
Chandran asked her if she could start by translating just a section of the novel. “I took up that challenge. When I showed him the bit I had translated, he was satisfied.”
Fathima’s literary pursuit came as a surprise even to her friends. The news report of the Crossword Book Award made her an instant celebrity.
A native of Azhiyoor, Fathima went to the Farook College and the University of Calicut. She has also worked in the Government Brennen College in Thalassery.
She said that her first readers were always her businessman husband M K Riyaz and children Hanna and Ameer. She is planning to come out with her own work soon.
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