orn in a rural hilly village, Paleri, in Kozhikode district, Kerala in south India, THACHOM POYIL RAJEEVAN writes in English and Malayalam, the language of the Indian state of Kerala, where he lives.
Rajeevan began writing poetry and prose at an early age and earned reputation when he was at college. After obtaining a Master Degree in English Language and Literature, he moved to New Delhi where he worked as journalist with various newspapers. In 1988, he returned to his home state Kerala and joined the University of Calicut as Public Relations officer.
In English, Rajeevan has published a chap book Kannaki (Crux Publishers, Vermont, USA, 2003) and a collection of poems, He Who was Gone Thus (Yeti Books, Calicut, India, 2004). He has also edited an anthology of poems Third Word: Post Socialist Poetry (Monsoon Editions, Calicut, 2007) with the Croatian poet Lana Derkac.
In Malayalam, he writes under the name T P Rajeevan and his published works include three collections of poems in Malayalam viz, Vathil, (The Door, 1991), Rashtratantram (Political Strategies, 2004) and Koritharichanal (The Day when I was Horripilated, 2005) in addition to a collection of essays on literary and cultural issues, titled Athe Akasam and Athe Bhoomi (The Same Sky, The same Earth, 2001) and a travelogue namely Purappettu Poya Vakku (On the Trial of the Lost Word, 2006). He has edited an anthology of world poetry, Virunnuvanna Vakuu (The Guest Words). His First novel in Malayalam, Paleri Manikkyam: Oru PathirakolapathakathinteKatha is being made into movie. Presently he is working on a novel in English.
Rajeevan’s poetry is represented in various anthologies in English and Malayalam, and is translated into Italian, Macedonian, Uzbek, Croatian, Hebrew, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi. He contributes literary and cultural articles to many leading publications in Malayalam and English.
Rajeevan has participated in many literary programmes which include the Struga Poetry Festival, Macedonia, Warsaw Poetry Festival, Poland, Zagreb Poetry Festival, Croatia, Sha’ar Festival, Israel, and the Iowa Writing Programme, USA. He was awarded the International Visiting Programme Fellowship by the US Department of States, in 2004. He has also held a Ledig House International Writer-in-Residence Fellowship in 2008 at Hudson, New York.
