Kamala Surayya

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For the 1973 film, see Madhavikutty (film).

Kamala Surayya
Born	31 March 1934 Punnayurkulam, Malabar District, Madras Presidency,British India
Died	31 May 2009 (aged 75) Pune, Maharashtra, India
Pen name	Madhavikkutty
Occupation	Poet, novelist, short story writer
Nationality	Indian
Genre	Poetry, novel, short story, memoirs
Notable awards	Ezhuthachchan Puraskaram,Vayalar Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, Asan World Prize, Asian Poetry Prize, Kent Award
Spouse	K. Madhava Das
Children	Madhav Das Nalapat Chinnen Das Jayasurya Das
Relatives	Balamani Amma (mother) V. M. Nair (father) Nalapat Narayana Menon(grand uncle)

Kamala Surayya (born Kamala; 31 March 1934 – 31 May 2009), also known by her one-time pen name Madhavikutty and Kamala Das, was an 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 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.^[1] On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in Pune.^[2] Das has earned considerable respect in recent years.