Mathew Mattam

Mathew Mattam Biography

Mathew Mattam was a popular novelist associated with Malayalam literature. Many of his popular novels have been columnist in Malayalam weekly magazines. He authored about 300 novels which were regularly published in Malayalam's leading periodicals such as Mangalam Weekly and Manorama Weekly, which include his popular novels- Alippazham, Daivam Urangiyittilla, Profasarude Makal, Karimbu, Lakshamveedu, Roti and the controversial Anchu Sundarikal, for its bold theme adapted. Karimbu and May Dinam have been adapted to silver screen, and Aalipazham to a daily soap. He passed away on 29 May 2016 aged 65.

His simple stories and writing style prompted even common man to read his novels through popular magazines. In fact he is regarded as the popular writer of Malayalam weekly magazines since 1980s. By this pen he wrote stories of farmers, common man and social life, which got easily connected to common class. His experiences attributed a lot to his writings as well. He took a break from writing in 2010 following his health problems, and ‘Mahapapi’ was his last book published.

He was born in 1950 in Erumeli of Pampa Valley, which belongs to the pilgrim place Sabarimala. He lost his father at the age of one. He had 7 siblings and had to face a lot of hardships during his childhood. He published his first novel while studying in class 8 – Kaattarum Kanyakayum – inspired from the struggle of his mother who fed her eight children. While doing his pre-degree course at Kanjirapally St. Dominix College, he learnt that writing was required to earn a living. Thus later he even discontinued his studies to completely dedicate to writing field. He got married to Valsamma and the couple had two children.

In the beginnings of 1980s, when weekly magazines became popular, he rose to fame as a popular novelist among masses. His novels were highly rated in the 1980s and 1990s, and readers used to eagerly wait for its next edition to continue reading. At the peak of his career, he wrote 13 novels at a time for different publications, a record that’s still to be broken!

Published: N/A

Updated: June 19, 2016