Kamala Surayya

Kamala Surayya

Kamala Suraiyya (b. Kamala Madhavikutty) (Malayalam കമലാ സുരയ്യ / മാധവിക്കുട്ടി) (31 March 1934 – 31 May 2009) was a major Indian English poet and littérateur and at the same time a leading Malayalam author from Kerala, India. Her popularity in Kerala is based chiefly on her short stories and autobiography, while her oeuvre in English, written under the name Kamala Das, is noted for the fiery poems and explicit autobiography.

Her open and honest treatment of female sexuality, free from any sense of guilt, infused her writing with power, but also marked her as an iconoclast in her generation. On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in Pune, but has earned considerable respect in recent years.