Erumeli Parameswaran Pillai

Erumeli Parameswaran Pillai (12 December 1932 – 7 February 2014) was a Malayalam-language writer, teacher, scholar, and literary critic from Kerala, India. He wrote over forty books, including five novels, four collections of stories, 11 scholarly works, and a few one-act plays and children's literature. He is also known for the work Malayala Sahityam Kalaghattangaliloode, a comprehensive history of Malayalam literature. He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions in 2009. Pillai was born on 12 December 1932 in Erumeli in the Kottayam district as the son of Velamparampil Krishna Pillai and Lakshmikuttyamma. He obtained MA degrees in Malayalam and Sociology from the University of Kerala and an MEd degree from the University of Madras. He became a school teacher in 1952 and worked in Travancore Devaswom Board High Schools in Erumeli, Thakazhi and Tiruvalla. He became a teacher at Farooq Training College near Calicut in 1964. In Calicut, he flourished as a writer, mainly influenced by the friendship he had with famous writers of the time Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and S. K. Pottekkatt. He was the Secretary of Kerala Sahitya Akademi (1988-91) and the first Principal of the Kottayam BEd Centre of the Mahatma Gandhi University. He conducted several training programmes at regional and national levels on literacy, adult education, library science, and language teaching. He was a member of the Faculties of Education and the Board of Studies of the Universities of Kerala and Calicut. He worked as the State Secretary of Deshabhimani Study Circle and as the General Secretary and State Secretary of Progressive Arts and Literature Society.