Feeling Kerala: An Anthology of Contemporary Malayalam Stories, curated and translated by J. Devika, is a 304-page collection of recent short fiction that presents Kerala through highlands, coastal villages and growing cities, rather than through the familiar images of communist egalitarianism and matrilineal households. That is the case Diya Isha makes in her Scroll review, published on October 21, 2023. The word “redefine” in the headline is the reviewer’s judgment, and it is worth testing against the book itself.
What the book is
The anthology gathers contemporary Malayalam short stories in English. Devika chose the stories, wrote an introduction to each one, and translated the texts. The publisher’s 2023 adult catalogue describes the title as translated from Malayalam by J. Devika, and the Google Books records describe it as a fiction collection of 304 pages.
Edition details and what the records agree on
Two Google Books records describe the same 304-page collection but carry different publisher and date information. They may refer to different editions or territorial releases. Check the listing before you buy, and confirm the binding, ISBN and availability from the seller.
| Source | Publisher as listed | Date as listed | Length | Translator credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Books record (2023) | Penguin Random House | 2023 | 304 pages | Not stated in this record |
| Google Books record (2025) | Penguin Books India PVT, Limited | August 19, 2025 | 304 pages | Not stated in this record |
| Penguin Books India adult catalogue, April–June 2023 | Penguin Books India | Listed in the April–June 2023 catalogue | Not stated in the catalogue | Translated from Malayalam by J. Devika |
Binding, ISBN and current stock are not established by these sources.
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The stereotypes the anthology pushes against
Diya Isha argues that the collection moves beyond a twentieth-century picture of Kerala built around communist egalitarianism and matrilineal families. In its place, the anthology offers a state that is socially and geographically varied: hill settlements, coastal communities and urban centres, each with its own pressures and vocabulary. The review treats this range, rather than any single theme, as the main reason the book unsettles the older image.
The claim has limits. A 304-page anthology of selected stories cannot represent every community in Kerala, and the review does not present it that way. Read the book as a set of particular lives in particular places, not as a survey.
Rank #2
Curation and the introductions
Each story comes with a short introduction by Devika. In her Scroll interview, she says these introductions are meant to place the writer and the work in context before the reader begins. Diya Isha treats them as part of the reading experience rather than as paratext.
Devika’s account of her method is grounded in her training in social science and history. She describes that training as a source of critical distance from her subject. She also explains her relationship to Kerala in terms that frame the whole anthology:
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“For me, love can only be critical love. If your love is blind to justice, then it is not love at all, to me.”
— J. Devika, in a Scroll interview
The interview also covers the curatorial process, the translation work, shifts in Left discourse, and the Malayalam short story as a form that keeps developing. Devika uses the phrase “subterranean worlds” for the settings the stories open up.
Rank #4
Translation choices for English readers
The review points to explanatory choices in the translation that help readers who do not know Malayalam. Local references are glossed rather than left unexplained. The reviewer’s clearest example is an arimani chain, which the translator explains as beads shaped like rice grains.
Not every local reference will be transparent on the page. A reader should expect some words and customs to need context from the surrounding text or from the introductions, and should not assume each one is explained.
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Yuma, “The Funerary Palm”
The review uses this story to show the translator’s explanatory work at the level of a single object. The arimani chain is the example Diya Isha gives: a term that would otherwise pass unnoticed becomes a concrete, visible thing for an English-language reader.
Unni R, “The Temple of Vatsyayanan”
The reviewer singles out this story for its treatment of sexuality and religion. It describes characters running a makeshift sex clinic under a religious veneer. The review presents the story as one of several in the anthology that deal with gender, family and sexuality in ways that do not fit older Kerala stereotypes.
Who the anthology suits
The book is a good fit for readers who want contemporary Kerala fiction in English and who are willing to read introductions and glosses as part of the text. It is less suited to a reader looking for a single authoritative picture of the state, or for a complete survey of Malayalam writing. The reviewer’s case is strongest when read as a claim about this selection, not about the whole literary canon.
Checking the edition before you buy
- Confirm the publisher and date on the listing. The two Google Books records give different publishers and dates for the same 304-page length.
- Check the ISBN against the physical copy or the seller’s record. The sources used here do not state one.
- Confirm that the translator is credited as J. Devika on the edition you are buying.
- Check the territory and stock status with the seller, since listings may refer to different releases.
The Scroll review and interview remain the most detailed published accounts of the anthology’s aims and method, both dated 2023.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesRead the review: ‘Feeling Kerala’: These Malayalam stories curated-translated by J Devika redefine literary Kerala. Read the interview: A new imagination of social justice is emerging in modern Malayali fiction.
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