Sunil was born in 1969 in Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal as the son of T. P. Naliath, who was a political activist, writer, rationalist and a newspaper editor.[1] His father, T. P. Naliath, was an early publisher and editor of the publication Kerala Rashmi in Kolkata.[1] Soon after his birth, he came to Tiruvankulam in Ernakulam district of Kerala with his mother.[2]
Sunil studied from 1st to 7th standard in Tiruvankulam.[1] He then returned to West Bengal with his family and studied at the Andhra Association Education Trust's School in Calcutta.[1] Even while in Bengal, his father's collection of Malayalam books and the Malayalam publications he purchased helped him maintain his connection with his mother tongue, Malayalam.[3] Bengali was studied as a third language in his English undergraduate studies.[1] It was during his undergraduate studies that he was attracted towards Bengali literary works too.[1]
Career
Immediately after college, he got a job in Calcutta. At that time, Sunil wrote features on Bengal football in many publications in Kerala.[3] Later he worked as Calcutta Correspondent of Mathrubhumi newspaper and from 1997 to 1999 he was the representative of Mathrubhumi.[3]
Literary career
The notes written during his childhood were published in the Trial weekly published at that time under the editorship of M. P. Narayana Pillai.[2] Later, stories were published in the publication Katha and in the Balapamkti (column for children's literature) of Desabhimani.[2]
Sunil's first published translation was a translation of a Bengali story by Suchitra Bhattacharya, which he wrote for the women writers' story edition published by Grihalakshmi magazine in Malayalam.[1] Suchitra Bhattacharya, who liked Sunil's translation, later gave Sunil the right to translate all her works.[1] He then decided to translate the works of other noted Bengali writers into Malayalam and translated the works of Mahasweta Devi, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Taslima Nasrin, Manoranjan Byapari etc. into Malayalam.[1] For the translation of Mahasweta Devi's novel Operation Bashai Tudu, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Translation.[1]
Selected books
Kolkata cafe (in Malayalam). Mathrubhumi books. 2022. ISBN9789355494085. Translation of 8 Bengali short stories.
Bashai Tudu (in Malayalam). Mathrubhumi books. ISBN9788182674295. Translation of Bengali novel by Mahasweta Devi.
Paschim Dikande Pradosha Kale (in Malayalam). Mathrubhumi books. Translation of Bengali novel by Vikraman Nair.
Durgashtami (in Malayalam). Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society. 2021. ISBN9789391946494. Translation of 8 Bengali short stories.