Legendary Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Nampoothiri has bagged the Jnanpith award, the highest literary price in India for outstanding contribution towards literature.
Akkitham is the sixth Malayalam writer to win the prestigious award. Akkitham’s literary works began to gain wide attention in the early 1950s and Irupatham Noottandinte Ithihasam (Epic of the 20th Century), a khandakavya is one of the first truly modernist poems in Malayalam literature, the book also won the Sanjayan Award in 1952.[6] He has published around 45 books comprising poetry anthologies, plays and short stories.
He was also honoured with Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, their highest literary award in 2016. He also received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the Government of India in 2017.