K. P. Appan

Karthikayil Padmanabhan Appan, better known as K. P. Appan as a renowned literary critic in Malayalam. Appan worked as a Professor of the Malayalam department at SN College, Kollam, Kerala. He began his career as a high school teacher. He worked as a lecture at U C College and later joined S N College Cherthala.In 1970. The strong emotional bond between him and S.N college had been a specialty. His classes in the S.N College had been noted for their supreme literary value and erudition. Students of other classes also used to sneak into his class to listen to him. Some of his colleagues still remember that though Appan had been a member of the Malayalam faculty many of the English teachers of the college had been clearing their doubts on English literature by interacting with him. A pioneer of modern Malayalam literary criticism, he was known for his courageous stand on literary issues. He never minced words in criticizing literature of inferior character. But he always paid attention to writers who had chosen to break away from the trodden paths and paved a way of their own. His stature in literary criticism and his exalted position as a teacher and a great human being commanded the respect and love of Kollam city for the past years. He had authored over 20 major works on literary criticism. He retired from Kollam S.N college in 1992.