Civic Chandran

Civic Chandran (born 5 April 1951) is an Indian playwright, poet, editor, former Naxalite, social activist and political commentator from Kerala. He is the editor of Patabhedam magazine. He was instrumental in popularising street theatre in Kerala and is a strong critic of Kerala's mainstream left. He was born on 5 April 1951 in Murikungal village near Kodakara in Trichur district. He was the eldest of four children born to Velappan and Lakshmi. His birth name was C. V. Kuttan. From 1968 to 1981 he worked as a teacher in Wayanad and Eranad. In 1981, he was suspended from the job on charges of Naxalite links. Following the acquittal by the High Court, he returned to teaching in 1991. Now retired, he lives in West Hill, Calicut. He was married to P. Sridevi, who died some years before. Their elder daughter Kabani is a translator and the younger daughter Harita is an architect. In July 2022, a complaint was lodged against Civic Chandran for sexually assaulting a woman activist. Civic was a member of the editorial board of Yanan magazine. This magazine was later confiscated by the government. He was imprisoned during the Emergency. He edited an anthology of poems titled Thadavara Kavithakal (Poems from Prison). He notes that political prisoners like him started to write poems in prison as part of survival and resistance.