Selected Poems of A. Ayyappan From God?s Own Country Translation into English by P.K.N.Panicker  (English, Paperback, P.K.N.Panicker)

About the Book: Here is what the hindu editor, gouridasan nair, had to say about ayyappan in the obituary column. He refused to live and write by the rules set by society and the grand masters of poetry. He did both as he pleased, and died the way he lived. Poet a. Ayyappan was found unconscious by the wayside close to the central railway station in the capital city late thursday evening and died at the general hospital here without anybody recognising who he was. He was identified only after his body was shifted to the mortuary. For the record, he would have turned 61 on wednesday. Ayyappan, winner of this year's kumaran asan puraskaram and the 1999 kerala sahithya akademi award, was one of those poets who never needed the props of public recognition to keep him going. He was to have received the asan puraskaram, instituted by the asan memorial association, at chennai on saturday and had booked the ticket for the journey. Ayyappan's was his own school in malayalam poetry where he spoke about a cursed life, lost innocence, forsaken love, death and sacrifice, all through dark images which he dextrously wove into his poems. He died a rich man by his own personal standards, both as a poet and a human being. He has some 2,000 poems collected in about 20 volumes to his credit. And, when he was found unconscious by the wayside, he had in his pocket a poem replete with his hallmark acidic imagery written on a scrap of paper, in every sense of the term, god's pauper. About the Author: P.K.N. Panicker, former president of the indian institute of chemical engineers, has published several technical articles in prestigious publications like encyclopedia of chemical processing and design. A bilingual writer and poet, he has published four anthologies of poems in english. (random reflections, insight, ultimate triumph & without borders). Other titles in english are swami vivekananda, our earth & our environment. In malayalam, he has to his credit two anthologies of poems (swapnangal & athirukalkkappuram); lohangalude lokam & alcohol (popular science); palamukhangal (one-act plays); 100 folk tales from different parts of the world translated and retold from english in nine volumes.