A little wordsmith par excellence

Calm and coy Anagha J Kolath might pass off as just another student. However, it is through the
power of her pen that the little poetess from the Government Women's College, Trivandrum, stands
out on her campus and even outside.

The author of the recently launched collection of poems Njan Arinja Kadal; a finalist at a poetry
competition held on television, and the winner of many awards and competitions, Anagha belongs
to the young brigade in Malayalam literature. We discover more about her world and words...

My world of verses
I have been interested in the world of poetry since childhood, thanks to my family . My elder sister
Aryambika is also a poet and the winner of this year's Vyloppilly award. Others in my family are also
inclined to poetry , including my uncle and literature enthusiast K M Vishwanathan Nair, who is also
my guru.

I used to be a regular in recitation, sloka recitals and kavyakeli at school youth festivals. However, it
is after joining college that I started attending poetry writing competitions. K Jayakumar IAS, who
was one of the judges at a recently held poetry competition, urged me to publish my works after
checking out a few of my poems. Njan Arinja Kadal is my first published collection of poems, which
has my works since I was in Class 2.

When not wielding the pen
I was briefly trained in music and dance. I was a district level Kalathilakam for four years at school
level. In 2005, I was also samskritha thilakam and baala thilakam. I take part in mono act
competitions too at youth festivals. Being a third year English Literature student, I have also started
penning poetry in English.

When I grow older...
I am not sure how seriously I will pursue my interest in poetry writing in the future. I want to pursue
civil service and I am preparing for it. I also wish to do research in comparative literature and
Sanskrit, and take a double post-graduation in Malayalam and English literature.

A poet on campus
I stay in college hostel and I read out my poems to my friends.One of my recent poems about the
love between a candle and matchstick is quite popular on campus and I am often asked to recite it at
various forums in college.