N S Madhavan

N S Madhavan is an Indian writer of Malayalam Literature. He is a novelist, short story writer, and an IAS officer. Madhavan also writes football columns and travel articles. He was born on 9 September 1948 in the port city of Cochin. He completed his school education at Sree Rama Varma High School. He graduated in Economics from Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam; he has done his post-graduation at the Department of Economics, University of Kerala. Madhavan is married to Shella Reddy, a book editor of Outlook and their daughter, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is a well-known Blogger and an Author.

Madhavan joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1975 as a member of the Bihar Cadre. In 1970, his first published short story named ‘Shishu’ won the top prize in a contest organized by Malayalam literary magazine Mathrubhumi. In the 1980s, Madhavan went through a decade-long writer’s block. In 1990 Madhavan resumed writing and released the story ‘Higuita’; which was modeled on his protagonist, Father Geervargheese. The short story was rated among the best Malayalam stories of the last century. He has written other short stories, such as Thiruthu (based on the Babri Masjid demolition), Chulaimedile Shavangal, Nilavili, Muyal Vetta, and many more. His stories represent uncertainties, tragedies and ambiguities of the modern world.
Madhavan published his debut novel in 2003 as Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal.

He has written two plays, Rayum Mayum and Arbhuvaidyan, published together as a book, Randu Natakangal in 2006. In 2004, a Hindi movie named Kya Taran was released, which was based on the short story When Big Trees Fall by Madhavan. He also edited one book, Malayala Kathakal, which comprises 60 short stories by various writers. Madhavan received the Padmarajan Award for his work Thiruthu in 1993 and a year later, he received the Odakkuzhal Award for Higuita. He received the Kerala Sahitya Academy award for his book Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal; his book also featured in the Man Asian Literary Prize long list in 2007. He recieves  several other significant awards, including the Muttathu Varkey Award, Mathrubhumi literary Award, and Crossword Book Award.