Editing Malayalam literature (section)

===Prose literature===
There was a great lull in the field of literary creation in Malayalam for nearly a century after the death of Kunchan Nambiar. There was however a consistent and steady development of prose at this time. The evolution of prose literature in the early centuries was a very slow process. In the wake of ''Bhashakautaliyam'' several translations began to appear in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The prose of ''Attaprakarams'' was meant to aid the Chakiyars in learning the art of [[Koodiyattom]]. ''Doothavakyam'' (14th century CE) is one of the earliest of these works. 15th century Malayalam prose is represented by ''[[Brahmanda Purana]]m'', a summary of the original in Sanskrit. A large number of prose works appeared during this period, most of which are either narrative based on ''[[purana]]s'' and religious works in Sanskrit or commentaries on similar works. With the starting of the first printing presses in the 16th century by Christian missionaries, prose literature received a great boost. Several regional versions of ''[[Keralolpathi]]'', tracing the beginnings of Kerala history, began to appear in the 18th century. Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar (1737–1799) wrote the first travelogue in Malayalam, ''Varthamanapustakam'' (Book of News). The works of Christian missionaries like [[Johann Ernst Hanxleden|Arnos Patiri (Johann Ernst Hanxleden)]], 1699–1732) and Paulinose Patiri (John Philip Wesdin, 1748–1806) also led to a widening of the range of topics and themes in Malayalam literature.<ref name="mlm"/>