Acclaimed Malayalam writer, translator, professor and literary critic Dr M Leelavathy has bagged the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award. She won the award for her translation of the Sanskrit text ‘Srimad Valmiki Ramayanam’. 

The deciding jury included K Jayakumar, K Muthulakshmi and K S Venkitachalam. Mathrubhumi reports that the award includes a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a plaque. 

She joins Anees Saleem and S Ramesan Nair among other Malayalis who have been honoured by the Sahitya Akademi for their work and different contributions to literature this year. 

She has previously won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (for Kavitadhwani, 1986) and has won many other prestigious literary and cultural awards, including the Lalithambika Antarjanam Award in 1999, Vallathol Award (in 2002), Basheer Award (in 2005), Guptan Nair Memorial Award (in 2007), Vayalar Ramavarma Award (in 2007) and FACT MKK Nayar Award (in 2009), among others. In 2010, Leelavathy also won the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, which is the highest literary prize in Kerala.

She also received the Padma Shri award in 2008, for her contribution to Malayalam literature and education. 

In the course of her long career, she has taught at various universities, including Victoria College, Palakkad, Brennen College in Thalassery and has been a visiting Professor at the University of Calicut. She completed her PhD from Kerala University in 1972. She is currently retired and lives in Thrikakkara, in Ernakulam.