Ashitha (writer)

Ashitha (5 April 1956 – 27 March 2019) was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, best known for her short stories, poems and translations.

Ashitha was born on 5 April 1956[1] in Pazhayannur in Trichur district of Kerala to Kazhangottu Balachandran Nair and Thekkekarupath Thankamani Amma.

[2] She completed her schooling from Delhi and Bombay and obtained her graduate and master's degrees in English literature from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam.

[4][5] She was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and was undergoing treatment when she died on 27 March 2019, at 62, survived by her husband, daughter and son-in-law.

[10] Counted among the most prominent women writers in Malayalam after Kamala Surayya and best known for her short stories,[11] she translated a number of works of Alexander Pushkin and Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī as well as many haikus.