Syam Sudhakar is a bilingual poet and academician from Kerala, India. He writes poems in Malayalam, his native language, and in English. His poems have been translated into several languages including Tamil and Bengali. His first publication was the anthology Earpam which was in 2001 by Pappiyon Books, Calicut. This was followed by Syam Sudhakar Kavithaikal translated into Tamil by Tamil writer Yuma Vasuki. Slicing the Moon: A Screen book of Poems, a video rendering of his poems was brought out by Black Dot & SSOA, Chennai & Sydney in 2013 along with the first edition of Drenched by the Sun; Avasanathe Kollimeen was published in 2014 by Current Books, Thrissur. He has also published a number of poems and articles in leading magazines and journals both in India and abroad. He also has a few radio publications to his credit.
Reviews
The sound patterns on which Malayalam poetry functions is moulded to perfection in the poetry of Syam Sudhakar. Being a member of the younger generation, the visual media culture that defines this generation has left a mark on him, which in turn is reflected in his poetry. Most of his poems resonate with strong visual images. Other than the presence of rich visual imagery, Sudhakar's primary forte is his use of the technique of magic realism which till date has been hardly used by Indian poets so extensively. The rich heritage of Indian myth, folklore and superstitions had been a part of Sudhakar’s growing up years; it is this heritage that Sudhakar tries to express through his poems, as he says, ‘My home was surrounded with fields shining in the blazing sun. I have grown up with ghost stories and colourful folk tales. All of them find a space in my work, which is my way of connecting with my roots’. Sudhakar's world of magically "real" images take us to another world of "reality" and gives new perspectives to the aesthetics of Indian poetry as a whole. Critic Anamika Chakraborty points out that "regional presence is one of the key components of the concept of magical realism, because the magical is inherent in the diverse ethnic culture, history and tradition, flora and fauna in Sudhakar’s native Kerala. Through the use of magical realism Sudhakar can easily convince the dubious reader about the reality of the supernatural. So the reader is convinced that ‘stepping stones’ can be made of ‘cheese-cakes’ and the ‘sinking boatman plucks a rainbow and it turns into a boat’". K. Satchidanandan notes that his poems revel in linguistic play and thus interiorize the ontological essence of poetry. He points out that it is difficult to narrow in on a particular theme or story in his poems. The spark of inebriate words Creeps up the spine Slowly Transparently.
Personal Life and Academic Career
After the completion of his Undergraduation with English and History major from St. Thomas College, Thrissur, SyamSudhakar moved to Chennai to pursue further studies and did his Postgraduation in English literature from the University of Madras. He did his Master of Philosophy on the Concept of Tinai landscape aesthetics as part of Dravidian Aesthetics, from Presidency College, Chennai. His doctoral thesis was on the Beat Generation Poets which he did from Madras University. Completing his higher studies, Syam sudhakar was associated with a project on Gender Studies in Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and later returned to Kerala, where after a brief stint at Christ College, Irinjalakuda, joined his Alma Mater, St. Thomas College, Thrissur to teach English literature, where he is working till date. He is also one of the founder members of Centre for Performance Research and Cultural Studies in South Asia and the poetry advisor of Sydney School of Arts and Humanities, Australia.
Awards and honours
Syam Sudhakar won the Vallatol Poetry Prize for poetry conducted by the Kerala Kalamandalam, Cheruthurithi, Kerala, for the year 2007-2008. He was awarded the Madras Kerala Samajam Poetry Award, Madras Kerala Samajam, Chennai in 2008. On invitation, he has also delivered poetry readings and lectures in Brisbane and Sydney in 2009 and 2013.
