P Lankesh

About P Lankesh

Among the foremost modern Kannada writers, P Lankesh (1935-2000), has made major contributions in several literary genres. Besides five collections of short stories, including Kereya Neeranu Kerege Chelli (1963), Nanalla (1970), Umapathiya Scholarship Yatre (1973), Kallu Karaguva Samaya (1990) and Ullangane (1996), he has published three novels, Biruku (1967), Mussanjeya Katha Prasanga (1978) and Akka (1991), three collections of poetry, Bicchu (1967), Talemaru (1973) and Chitra Samuha (1999), and Papada Hoovugalu, a translation of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal. His plays, in particular Sankranti (1971) and Gunamukha (1993), and his translation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Antigone, are among the major modern Kannada plays. Besides several volumes of short essays in cultural and political criticism, he wrote a critically acclaimed autobiography, Hulli Maavina Mara (A Sour Mango Tree) in 1997. He was founder-editor of Lankesh Patrike, a unique Kannada literary and political weekly, from 1980 until his death in 2000. Lankesh also directed four feature films in Kannada, among which Pallavi won the National Award for Best Direction in 1977.