Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Zacharia gifts journal collection

Staff Reporter

GIFT FOR AKADEMI: Writer Zacharia handing over his collection of periodicals to Kerala Sahitya Akademi secretary P.V. Krishnan Nair in the city on Monday. - Photo: S. Mahinsha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If it is possible to identify a person by the book he reads, users of Kerala Sahitya Akademi's periodical library in Thrissur could soon be counted in the same league as an award-winning author, journalist and social critic.

Paul Zacharia, celebrated novelist and essayist, has gifted his collection of periodicals, numbering over 4,000, to the Akademi's periodical library at the Appanthampuran Centre, Ayyanthole. The library with over 50,000 periodicals and around 200 titles is a haven for scholars and literary students who are keen on research work.

At a brief function held at the third-floor apartment of the writer here at the Bakery Junction on Monday afternoon, Mr. Zacharia handed over his 40-year-old collection, consisting mostly of literary journals and magazines in English, published in India and abroad, especially in the U.S and the U.K during the late 1950s, to P.V. Krishnan Nair, secretary of the Akademi.

Handing over the hardbound periodicals, the writer told presspersons who turned up in numbers at his residence to capture the moment, "I am tired of carrying these books with me wherever I go. These days I do not even get the time to leaf through its pages."

According to him, there is no point in continuing to preserve it (periodicals) as a private collection. "I want the magazines to be utilised for the benefit of other readers. Obviously, there is an emotional tug while parting with the collection built up painstakingly over the years. But then there is no point in keeping it as a treasure," he said.

The collection consisting of nearly 15 titles include copies of Times Literary Supplement, New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, Punch, Desabandhu and the Illustrated Weekly of India.

The prized possession was given to the Sahitya Akademi library because Mr. Zacharia recognised it as an "official institution of merit and significance."

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