Jayasree Kalathil – Prominent translator and activist from Kerala

Jayasree Kalathil is an award-winning translator from the state of Kerala. She is also known for her contributions towards the field of activism and mental health research. As a writer, she has received numerous international awards which include the prestigious Crossword Book Award and JCB Prize for Literature.

Jayasree Kalathil completed her doctorate under the guidance of noted writer Susie Tharu

Jayasree hails from Kottakkal, a town in Malappuram district. She was born to Janarthana Panicker and Sreekumar, as their youngest child. Her father worked with Indian army and later became caretaker of Arya Vaidyasala’s nursing home. Her reading and writing interests root back to her mother, an avid reader. She spent a good amount of time with books, right from childhood. Initially she wrote Malayalam poetry, followed by English.

Kalathil completed her schooling from St. Paul English Medium Boarding School, Thenjipalam. She completed her college education from Farook College, Kozhikode, where she took English as main subject. Later she pursued her research at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad and earned her doctorate degree. She worked as a researcher at different institutions in Pune and Hyderabad before moving to UK.

She is associated with international psychiatric survivors’ movement since the 1990s

Jayasree is known as a mental health researcher and activist, and she has given immense contributions to these fields. She has actively associated with the survivors and worked for their betterment. Alongside she has authored many books, sharing her experiences as a survivor researcher.  After moving to the UK, she worked as a researcher at the Mental Health Media and the Centre for Mental Health, both in London. In 2007, she set up the virtual collective, Survivor Research, and continued her research works in this field. She has been actively associated with several campaigns contributing towards mental health and its survivors.

Jayasree’s literal contributions and awards received

In year 2020 she was honoured with two prestigious literal awards. Diary of a Malayali Madman, the translation of N. Prabhakaran’s collection of 5 Malayalam novellas & her debut work won Crossword Book Award. Her translation work of S. Hareesh’s Meesha titled Moustache earned her JCB Prize for Literature. Her translation work, Valli, A Novel was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature in 2022.

Some of her original works include – The Sackclothman, Chakkupranthan, Gonnesanchi Abbayi, Dancing to our own tunes, Recovery and resilience, Borewala etc. She has also co-authored a textbook, Values and Ethics in Mental Health: An Exploration for Practice. She has authored numerous articles, mainly focussing on mental health. Since 2003 she is living with her partner Adli Siddique.

Jayasree Kalathil – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Since childhood, she dreamt to become a writer. Whenever she was asked about her future plans, she shared the same.

2. She used to spare the money she received to buy books during childhood. Those days, when vehicle of Prabhat Book House arrives with books, she used to buy books with her savings. She also bought books from Book Bank arranged by Kozhikode Touring Book Stall.

3. During childhood she had knee pain and related issues. Unable to run and play like usual kids, she used to spend her leisure time reading books.

4. Her first published translated work was Sara Joseph’s Oduvilathe Sooryakanthi in 1997.