Poetry
Poetry came to Paniker at a very early age. When only 16 his first poem was published in the renowned Mathrubhoomi Weekly by its editor K.A.Damodara Menon.

Poetic influences
During 1946-48, Paniker, then a student of the intermediate course in the Malabar Christian College, Kozhikkode, came into contact with leftist political activities then prevalent in Malabar. He was a visitor to the Deshabhimani bookstall,and was in regular contact with politically committed activists and writers like K.Damodaran, C.Unniraja, D.M.Pottekkatt, Pappuettan and others.

An 'passive' member of the student's congress he took part in public demonstrations and meetings. In fact, on account of all these activities, he was denied several coveted prizes and even a character/conduct certificate by the college authorities!

In 1946, Ayyappa Paniker made his first public speech. It was at a protest meeting against Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar in the Kozhikode Town Hall. It was during the same period that for the first time he attended a lecture/study class by the well-known communist leader, E.M.S Namboodiripad. The ideology of dialectical materialism preached in the dim, candle-lit-room, in low stuttering whispers, echoed within the poet, and kindled the spirit of humanism alongside the already awakened patriotism.

The urge to write, earlier evidenced in his high school days, became more alive during his intermediate education. The Malayalam teacher of Malabar Christian College, Surya Munshi, encouraged him to write poems and articles. C.S.Subramanian Potti wrote a foreward for a collection of Paniker's poems written during 1944-45, and published under the title Panineerpoovu in 1947.