Perumal Murugan

Perumal Murugan was born on 15 October 1966 in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu. He is a renowned poet, writer, and scholar. He wrote eleven novels and four collections of short stories and poems. Furthermore, he wrote thirteen non-fiction books and edited various friction and non-fiction works. He completed his Graduation in Erode and his Post-graduation in Coimbatore. He studied M.Phil. from Madras University. He began his career by writing short stories for the Tamil journal Manavosai. His first novel is named Eru Veyyil. His notable works include Nizhal, Koolamadar, Madhorubhagan, Pookkuzhi, etc.

Various writers translated his novels into English. V. Geetha translated his novels Koolamadari and Nizhal as Current Show and Seasons of the Palm. His most notable work, Madhorubhagan, was translated into English by Anirudhan as One Part Woman. Due to the protests from Hindutva for his work Madhorubhagan, he decided to stop writing. The court dismissed the case against the writer in 2016. He won the ILF Samanvay Bhasha Samman Award in 2015. In 2023, International Booker Prize long-listed his novel Pyre (Pookkuzhi). He is a Tamil professor at Government Arts College, Namakkal.