Perumal Murugan is a Tamil scholar, Tamil language professor, author, and literary chronicler. He has written twelve novels, six short story collections, and four poetry anthologies. Several of his novels have been translated into English. His novel “Madhorubhagan” and its translation, “One Part Woman,” attracted negative reactions from religious quarters, which made Murugan back off from the controversy, and he declared that the writer Murugan is dead and that he would stop writing. Later the high court lifted the ban on his books, and he returned to literature to write a poetry collection.
He has been the recipient of several prestigious awards. His novel Seasons of the Palm was shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize. The English translation of Murugan’s novel Madhorubhagan, or One Part Woman, by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, won the Sahitya Akademi’s Translation Prize. In 2023, the English translation of Murugan’s novel “Pūkkul̲i,” or “Pyre,” by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.
