Kochi: The under-representation of coastal life in Malayalam literature was highlighted at a literary discussion organised by Malayala Manorama in Kochi on Friday as part of a series of events being held ahead of the Hortus 2025 festival. 

Novelists P F Mathews, K A Sebastian and Arun Babu Anto shared their experiences of telling stories from the coastal world while raising their concerns over the literary world often neglecting voices from the fishing community. People from various walks of life took part in the discussion held on the premises of Our Lady of Hope Church at Vypeen.                                                                

“People of the coastal areas won’t be found, no matter how hard you search in history. The layers of the coastal life can be stitched together only by interacting with the people there,” P F Mathews said in his opening remarks. Mathews said that historically, critics in Malayalam had ignored writers from the coastal communities. He was critical of the literary histories that place Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s ‘Chemmeen’ as a pioneering work on coastal life. “The novel and its film adaptation even led to the stereotyping of the coastal dialect in popular cinema,” Mathews said.

K A Sebastian echoed Mathews’ criticism. “Nobody has spoken much about the sea and the life around it. The number of writers from coastal areas is very less. There has always been a notion that the life, language and culture of coastal regions were of a lesser stature,” he said. 

Young author Arun Babu Anto said he wrote his maiden novel “Udaplutha Sathvangal”, loosely translated as Demons below the sea, on the realisation that it was his responsibility to write about the marginalised people. “One of the main criticisms against the novel was that many could not digest the dialect used in it. It is the language we live with. I couldn’t help but write it,” he said.

Malayala Manorama special correspondent Jijo John Puthezhath moderated the session. The discussion was organised as part of the events scheduled to be held ahead of the second edition of Hortus, which will take place in Kochi from November 27 to 30.