Mangaluru: Eminent Kannada novelist, essayist and translator Sara Aboobacker passed away at a hospital here on Tuesday, her family sources said.

She was 87.

Sara, who was born on June 30, 1936 in Kasaragod in Kerala, shifted to Mangaluru after her wedding. Her first novel “Chandragiriya Theeradalli” (1981) was widely acclaimed and was translated into English as “Breaking Ties”.

The book also won her the prestigious Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984.

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah mourned her death on Twitter and said that it is an “irreparable loss to the literary world”.

“She stuck to the values she believed in, bravely faced the opposition and was the voice of the Muslim world. The death of veteran literary figure Sara Aboobacker is an irreparable loss to the literary world. I share in the grief of her relatives and readers,” the leader tweeted in Kannada.

She authored several other literary works, including “Vajragalu” (1988), “Suliyalli Sikkavaru” (1994), and “Panjara” (2004).

Kannada actor Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee also took to Twitter to pay homage to the author.

“With love, let your novel Vajragalu ‘Sara Vajra’ become a movie. Our team is forever indebted to you. May your soul rest in peace,” she wrote in Kannada.

Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Syed Nasser Hussain called Abookbacker “the master of Kannada literature”.

“The death of Nadoja Sara Abubakar, the master of Kannada literature, is an irreparable loss to the literary world. I share in the grief of the family and readers,” the Congress leader said.

Aboobacker also translated into Kannada works like “Manomi” by Kamala Das, “Bale” by B M Sohara, and “Naninnu Nidrisuve” by P K Balakrishnan.

She leaves behind her four sons.