C. K. Meena Biography 
C. K. Meena is a Bangalore-based journalist and newspaper columnist from Kerala. She has also authored a few novels. She is active in the writing field since 1970. In 2005 she published her first novel, Black Lentil Doughnuts. Most recently in 2013, she co-authored a handbook on adoption. She has also served as a faculty of journalism in many educational institutions like Asian College of Journalism and the Manipal Institute of Communication. She wrote articles for ‘The Hindu and Deccan Chronicle.
She started her career at City Tab, a tabloid in the 1980s. She is the chairperson Toto Funds the Arts at present. Meena is a feminist. As an author, her other works are 7 Days to Somewhere, Adoption: what, why, when, how (co-author) and Dreams for the dying. ‘Walk into the night without fear’ and ‘This lady is a tramp’ are her noted articles. Her debut novel, Black Lentil Doughnuts earned positive reviews from critics. ‘Dreams for the Dying’ is a murder mystery set in Chennai and Kerala.
She is a non-residential Keralite now settled in Bangalore. Through her work, Black Lentil Doughnuts that literary mean ‘Uzhunnu vadai’ – a traditional snack item of Kerala, she tells about the sense of displacement that comes from being outside the community, state, or cultural milieu that you belong to and it is partially set in Kozhikode, Kerala background and rest in Bangalore. C. K. Meena was influenced by T G Vaidyanathan, a versatile writer, film critic and English professor at Central College. He used to read all her columns before they got published and asked her to think a lot before writing. He taught her to respect the craft of writing.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 13, 2014
