Shreekumar Varma is a writer and teacher.
His novel, LAMENT OF MOHINI (Penguin, 2000), was Longlisted for the Crossword Prize. It is now available as an E-book. His second novel, MARIA'S ROOM (Harper Collins, 2010), was Longlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. It is on the Vodaphone Crossword Longlist 2011. It is also available as a 'talking book' for the print-challenged. His children's book, PAZHASSI RAJA: THE ROYAL REBEL, was published in 1997 by Macmillan. His children's novel, DEVIL'S GARDEN, was published by Puffin in July 2006. His children's book, THE MAGIC STORE OF NU-CHAM-VU (Puffin, 2009), was Shortlisted for the Vodaphone Crossword Book Award 2009. It has also been produced as a talking book.
His award-winning plays, THE DARK LORD and BOW OF RAMA, were staged by the British Council and The Hindu respectively. His play PLATFORM launched the 50th year celebrations of The Madras Players. MIDNIGHT HOTEL, Longlisted for the inaugural Hindu MetroPlus Playscripts Award, played to packed houses with ten shows in Chennai and Bangalore, and raised more than 40 lakh rupees for the Christian Medical College, Vellore. NATHU'S DREAM, his first musical, was performed by students of the Bala Vidya Mandir School. His political play, FIVE, was staged for a supper theatre audience. CAST PARTY had packed shows.
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. 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), Get Smart! Writing Skills (Puffin), Chicken Soup for the Indian Spiritual Soul (Westland), Why We Don't Talk (Rupa), Dark Moon Rising (Puffin), Urban Voice 4 (Leadstart Publishing), Funny Stories For Boys (Puffin) and Only Men Please (Unisun).
He has translated poetry and fiction for the OUP Anthology of Malayalam Dalit Writings in Translation (Oxford University Press).
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 also a literary reviewer for The Hindu and the Sunday Herald. He is currently an adjunct professor in Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute. He had earlier taught English Literature and Journalism at the Madras Christian College. He was a charter member and president of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest. Two unique Bharathanatyam dance recitals, Vamshi and Monsoon, by renowned artiste Indira Kadambi were performed incorporating his poetry. He has lectured and presented papers on Creative Writing at various Rotary Clubs, IIT (Madras), Ethiraj College, Meenakshi College, Madras Christian College, Loyola College, SRM University, The Madras University, International Women's Association, Chennai, etc. He was awarded the Charles Wallace [India] Trust fellowship, and was Writer-in-Residence at Stirling University, UK, in 2004. He has been on the jury of the Karadi Tales and Sunday Herald short story competitions, Prakriti Foundation's poetry competition and the inaugural The Hindu Best Fiction Award.
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 present matriarch of the Travancore Royal Family. He lives in Chennai, India.
(C) shreekumar varma 2012
