Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala Ottaplavil Neelakandan Velu Kurup yesterday became the fifth Malayalee to get the Jnanpith award, the highest literary award in the country.
ONV, as he is popularly known, was selected for the award for 2007. He is the second poet after G. Sankara Kurup to get this award for poetry.
The other three Jnanpith award winners from Kerala are S.K. Pottekad (1980), Thakazhi Siva Sankara Pillai (1984) and M.T. Vasudevan Nair (1995).
"After a long gap, this award is coming to a Malayalee. No doubt this is an appreciation for Malayalam poetry," ONV, who was conferred the Padmashri award in 1998, said.
Renowned author and filmmaker M.T. Vasudevan Nair said: "This is a news I was waiting to hear for some time."
ONV, 79, considered the greatest living poet in the country, is also a popular lyricist in Malayalam cinema.
In 1989 he won the national award for best lyricist for the film Vaishali. He has also won 13 state film awards for best lyricist.
Born May 27, 1931, in Chavara, Kollam in Kerala, he graduated in economics from S.N. College, Kollam and completed a post-graduate degree in Malayalam literature.
