Contents
Perumal Murugan
Writing Tamil novels such as One Part Woman and Pyre about caste, intimacy and rural life.
Seasons of the Palm · One Part Woman
- Born
- 1966
- Birthplace
- Near Tiruchengode, India
More people
Perumal Murugan
Perumal Murugan is an Indian novelist and Tamil scholar whose fiction draws closely on the Kongu region.
Early life
Farming family
Grew up among small farmers; his father also ran a cinema soda stall.
Tamil studies
Studied Tamil literature and completed a doctorate on R. Shanmugasundaram.
Career
- 1991
First novel
Published Rising Heat.
- 2015
Writing withdrawn
Announced his withdrawal after protests against One Part Woman.
- 2016
Return
Resumed publishing after the Madras High Court defended his literary freedom.
Selected work
Seasons of the Palm
Follows a young Dalit goatherd in bonded labour.
One Part Woman
Explores the pressure on a childless couple.
Pyre
Examines an inter-caste marriage facing hostility.
Beyond work
Language work
Compiled regional vocabulary and documented Kongu folklore.
Teaching
Taught Tamil literature at government colleges.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and career ↗Further source ↗Photo: Augustus Binu : flickr. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
