Shreekumar Varma

Infobox Celebrity
name = Shreekumar Varma


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birth_date = 1955
birth_place = Satelmond Palace, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram
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occupation = Writer, Poet, Teacher
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website = A Writer's World [http://www.shreevarma.com]
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Shreekumar Varma is an Indian author, newspaper columnist and poet, known for the novels "Lament of Mohini" (Penguin, 2000) and "Devil's Garden: Tales Of Pappudom" (Puffin, 2006) and the historical book for children, "The Royal Rebel" (Macmillan, 1997). He is a great great grandson of the artist Raja Ravi Varma and grandson of Regent Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the last ruling Maharani of Travancore.

Biography

He was born in 1955 in Satelmond Palace, Poojapura, Thiruvananthapuram. His parents left Kerala and settled down in Madras when he was four. He studied in the Good Shepherd Convent, the [http://www.mcchss.com Madras Christian College High School] and the Madras Christian College, from where he completed his MA and M.Phil in English Literature. Later he taught briefly at the college. He also did a course in Journalism from the Bhavan's College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He took part in plays in school and college, and also participated in and devised programmes for All India Radio. He worked for the Indian Express and the Film Industry Journal (renamed Cinema Today) in Bombay. Back in Madras, he was associated with a printing press, as well as a publishing and creative training unit.

He lives in Chennai, and is a full-time writer and adjunct professor at the Chennai Mathematical Institute. He is married to Geeta and has two sons, Vinayak and Karthik.

Literary Works

His two award-winning plays, "The Dark Lord" and "Bow Of Rama", were staged by The British Council and The Madras Players respectively.His play, "Platform", was staged by The Madras Players, the oldest running English language theatre group in India, in January 2005 to launch their golden jubilee celebrations.

He has written regular columns for The New Indian Express, The Economic Times Madras Plus, Ritz Magazine, Fiji Times and the Deccan Herald.

He has contributed poetry, fiction and non-fiction to several anthologies, including Poetry Society of India volumes, Aesthetica Quarterly Review, [http://www.pulse-berlin.com Pulse Berlin Magazine] , [http://www.hudsonview.us A Hudson View Poetry Digest] , Where The Rain Is Born: Writings from Kerala, The Puffin Book of Poetry for Children, the Puffin Book of Funny Stories, The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense (Penguin), A Cup Of Chai & Other Stories (Unisun Publications) and Favourite Stories for Boys (Puffin).

Awards and Recognitions

He was awarded the Charles Wallace Fellowship for the year 2004, and was Writer-in-Residence at Stirling University, Scotland.

His new novel "Maria's Room" was Longlisted for the inaugural Man Asia Literary Prize (2007).

His poetry was used as text for the dance recitals Vamshi and Monsoon by noted Bharatanatyam exponent Indira Kadambi.

External links

* [http://www.shreevarma.com A Writer's World] , Shreekumar Varma's Homepage