Malayali Writing in English, the canonical aftermath of colonialism, and the spread of English education in Kerala need a close examination while discussing many ‘English literatures’ from India. Over the years, English has assimilated into the plurality of Indian languages by adapting itself to the cultural landscape and social backdrop of the country. This post-colonial swap of English getting merged into indigenous languages and cultures inaugurated regional English literatures—the Kerala component of which is the focus of Muse India's October issue.

The dynamics of the English language in Kerala are highly connected with the project of Kerala Modernity and its spirit of renaissance. Attempts to trace the roots of Malayali writings in English ultimately resonate and carry forth Kerala modernity—a process still in its continuum. Muse India, in this issue, captures the contemporary essence of Malayali writings in English that has traversed across the socio-political upheavals of the state. These writings are ultimately an extension of a lineage that dates back to the icons of renaissance—Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamikal, Ayyankali, et al.

Writers such as K M Panikkar, G K Chettur, A S P Ayyar, S K Chettur, and Manjeri Isvaran are some of the first-generation writers of English from Kerala belonging to the pre-independence period. This tradition was carried forth by writers like Menon Marath, Aubrey Menen, Kamala Das, Anna Sujatha Mathai, and Meena Alexander. Since the 1980s, the trajectory of English writings from Kerala has taken a massive turn reaching a global stature with the contributions of writers like Shashi Tharoor, C P Surendran, Jeet Thayil, Arundhati Roy, Jaishree Misra, Vijay Nambisan, Anita Nair, Anees Salim, Shinie Antony, Karthika Nair, Chandramohan S, Sindu Rajasekaran, and Manu S Pillai. These writers have helped mould a stable base for contemporary English writings from Kerala, a majority of them showing a tradition of mobility and hybrid cultural identity.

I try to encapsulate this legacy of Kerala writings in English as upheld by the representatives of present-day Malayali writers through this edition. Contemporary English writings from Kerala have diverged into many branches depending upon the geographical identity and spatiality of these writers. Creatives who reside in Kerala such as Shashi Tharoor, Gopi Kottoor, Anees Salim, Chandramohan S, Soni Somarajan, Santhosh Alex, Shivshankar Menon, Jayakrishnan Vallapuzha, Anupama Raju, Meera Nair, Binu Karunakaran, Vijay Nair, Aswin Vijayan, Amal Mathew, Babitha Justin, Arya Gopi, Zainab Ummer Farook, Soumya, Noureen K Ajmal and Rahana K. Ismail reverberate an innate Malayali self through their writings. C P Surendran, Anita Nair, Jeet Thayil, Shinie Antony, E V Ramakrishnan, Aditya Shankar, and Meenakshi Sajeev form another array of writers who have migrated to other parts of the country. A group of transnational migrants with Kerala roots like Jaya Anitha Abraham, Sridevi Ramanunni, and Ardra Manasi also exhibit a creative sensibility in English enriched by their migrant experiences. All these writers who expand the project of Kerala Modernity by transcending into a second language praxis share a common bond in their experiences of travel. Another significant trend in creative practices involves bilingual writers who have gained momentum in recent years.

With the development of technology in the world of cyberspace, English writings from Kerala are in a dynamic flux. The question of ‘why a Malayali chooses to write in English’ is relevant, given the history of colonial interaction and the impact of globalisation upon Keralites. The contributors themselves answer the question in this edition of Muse India—in addition to some of their recent creative writings in English.

This is perhaps the first endeavour to compile and categorise English writers from Kerala, with the exception of K Ayyappa Paniker’s earlier monograph collection. The common thread linking these writers is their shared geography. For those residing in Kerala, the land acts as their tangible reality, whereas for those who have migrated elsewhere, it serves as a metaphorical search for one’s roots.

I would have been happy if I could include the entire spectrum of contemporary English writers from Kerala. For instance, the works of authors like Arundhati Roy, Jaishree Misra, Anand Neelakantan, Manu S Pillai, and Karthika Nair remain absent. The contributions of non-fiction English writers from Kerala are also relevant that I would like to incorporate as an extension of this research project. I am really sad to remember the recent demise of creatives like Vijay Nambisan, Meena Alexander, and Thachampoyil Rajeevan that has created irreplaceable voids. Despite this, I am sure that contemporary English writing from Kerala with its considerable diversity is in a phase of rapid growth.