Thiruvananthapuram: Author and screenwriter S Hareesh has been named the recipient of the 45th Vayalar Award for his controversial 2018 novel 'Meesha' (Moustache).

The award constitutes prize money of Rs 1 lakh and a bronze sculpture created by Kanayi Kunhiraman.

The Vayalar Award is given for the best literary work in Malayalam. The award was instituted in 1977 by the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust in memory of the legendary poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma, popularly known as Vayalar.

The award will be given to Hareesh on October 27, which is the death anniversary of Vayalar.

The winner was decided by a panel comprising writers Sarah Joseph, V J James and V Raman Kutty.

'Meesha' is Hareesh's first novel. He climbed the ranks of contemporary Malayalam literature fast with his numerous short stories.

The award committee observed that 'Meesha' is a work of exceptional compositional excellence, with its highly complex content and political significance.

The English translation of the book, Moustache, won the JCB Prize for literature in 2020. The novel also won the 2019 Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, which was announced in February 2021.

Soon after its release, a section in 'Meesha' paved the way for controversy and vehement protests from several Hindu organisations, including the BJP, Hindu Aikya Vedi and NSS. Though a plea to ban the book was made to the Supreme Court of India by N Radhakrishnan, a resident of Delhi, the court dismissed the petition stating the culture of banning books would impact the free flow of ideas.

Hareesh's other works include 'History of Chemistry', 'Adam', 'Appan' (short story collections), 'August 15' (novel) and 'Gogol's Tales' (translation).

Filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery's critically-acclaimed 'Jallikattu' is an adaptation of 'Maoist', another story penned by Hareesh. Interestingly, Lijo's last three outings - Jallikattu, Churuli and Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakam (yet to release) - have been written for the screen by Hareesh.

He won the State Film Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for 'Eden', co-written with Sanju Surendran.