Shreekumar Varma is a writer and teacher.
His poems, articles, reviews, short stories and interviews have appeared in several
publications and Internet sites including The Hindu, Indian Express, Deccan Herald, Fiji Times, Akshara Journal, Aesthetica Quarterly, Kavitanjali. com, Katha. com, A Hudson View, Trident, Pulse-Berlin Magazine, The Heritage, The London Delhi Poetry Quarterly, and Cinema Today.
He has been a columnist for The Times of India Chennai Times, The New Indian Express, The Economic Times Madras Plus, The Hindu MetroPlus, Ritz Magazine and the Deccan Herald.
He is an adjunct professor in Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute.
He has taught English Literature to undergraduate and MA students, and Journalism to Continuing Education students at the Madras Christian College. He has addressed students of the Indian Institute of Technology [IIT], Chennai, the JBAS College, the DG Vaishnav College and the Meenakshi College, Chennai, as well as executives of the Murugappa Group, the Sterling Writers' Group, Scotland, the Sterling University International Conference on Literature, and
numerous Rotary Clubs.
He was a charter member and president of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest.
His award-winning plays, THE DARK LORD and BOW OF RAMA, were staged by the British
Council, and The Hindu. His play PLATFORM was staged by The Madras Players in January
2005 to launch their 50th year celebrations. His play MIDNIGHT HOTEL was longlisted for The Hindu MetroPlus Playscripts Award and played to packed houses with eight shows in Chennai and Bangalore.
His children's book, THE ROYAL REBEL, was published in 1997 by Macmillan.
His debut novel, LAMENT OF MOHINI, was published by Penguin in June 2000. It was listed on the Indian Top Ten, and nominated for the Crossword Prize.
His children's novel DEVIL'S GARDEN was published by Puffin in July 2006.
His novel MARIA'S ROOM was on the Longlist for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. It will be published by Harper Collins in 2009.
His stories, articles and poems have appeared in anthologies, including the Poetry Society of India's anthologies, Penguin's Where The Rain Is Born, The Madras Players' Bring Down The House Lights, Puffin's Book of Poetry for Children, Puffin's Book of Funny Stories, Puffin's Favourite Stories for Boys, The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Nonsense Writing (Penguin), A Cup Of Chai (Unisun Publications), Kerala Kerala Quite Contrary (Rupa) and
Get Smart! Writing Skills (Puffin).
Two unique Bharathanatyam dance recitals, Vamshi and Monsoon, by renowned artiste Indira Kadambi were performed incorporating his poetry.
His children's novel, The Magic Store Of Nu-Cham-Vu, will be published by Puffin in August 2009.
He has completed NATHU'S DREAM, a musical for children.
His forthcoming work includes a "personal biography" of the city of Madras, a play set against the background of classical dance, and a novel named Indian Scotch.
He was awarded the Charles Wallace [India] Trust fellowship, and was Writer-in-Residence at Stirling University, UK, during the year 2004.
He is married to Geeta, and has two sons, Vinayak and Karthik.
He is the grandson of Sethu Lakshmi Bai, Regent Maharani of the erstwhile Travancore State, and great grandson of the artist Raja Ravi Varma. He is the son of the eldest female member of the Travancore Royal Family.
He lives in Chennai, India.
