Diary of a Malayali Madman

A research scholar whose notebook reveals a surreal pig farm…

A psychologist in search of the truth about the one of his clients…

An aspiring writer who emulates Gogol…

The unforgettable men and women in N. Prabhakaran’s stories have an uncanny ability to expose the fault lines between the real and the unreal, the normal and the mad, as they explore their own inner worlds and psychic wounds.

A pioneer of the post-modern aesthetic turn, N. Prabhakaran weaves the nitty-gritty of everyday, small-town lives into his stories – all set in northern Kerala – that are steeped in folklore, nature, factional politics and the intricacies of human relationships.

Brilliantly translated by Jayasree Kalathil, Diary of a Malayali Madman marks the very first time this major Indian writer’s work is available in English.

N. Prabhakaran (b. 1952) is one of the major contemporary writers in Kerala, and has published over forty works – novels, poetry, plays, short-story collections, essays and a travelogue. He has won numerous awards for his writing, including: the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1987; the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1988 and 1996; the EMS Memorial Trust Award, Munnad, in 2005; the Vaikom Muhammed Basheer Memorial Trust Award in 2009; and the Malayatoor Award in 2010. In 2012, Prabhakaran won the Muttathu Varky Literary Award for his contribution to Malayalam literature.

Jayasree Kalathil’s translations have been published in the Malayalam Literary Review; aajna, india’s first and only mental health advocacy newsletter; No Alphabet in Sight, an anthology of Dalit writing; and as part of Different Tales, a book series for children. She is also the author of The Sackclothman (2009), a children’s book.

**Contents and Sample Pages**