A.J. Thomas

A.J. Thomas is an Indian English poet, fiction writer, translator and editor. He translates poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction prose from Malayalam to English, with more than 20 titles to his credit. Has M.Phil, and Ph.D. degrees in English Literature (Translation Studies) from the School of Letters, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. He has been in the editorial team of Indian Literature, India’s national literary journal, for more than 20 years as its Assistant Editor, Editor and as Guest Editor now. Taught English in Benghazi University, Ajdabiya Branch, Libya from 2008 to 2014.  He was also a Senior Consultant at Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. His noted contributions include Germination (Poetry, 1989), Aagaami Pal Ka Nirman (His poetry in Hindi translation-2010),  Bhaskara Pattelar and Other Stories, (Manas, 1993), Reflections of a Hen in Her Last Hour and Other Stories (Penguin India), both Paul Zacharia's story-cllections in translation, Keshavan’s Lamentations (Keshavante Vilaapangal, renowned novelist M.Mukundan’s premier work),  ONV Kurup’s verse-novel Ujjayini, (Rupa) and a poetry collection of ONV he translated and edited, This Ancient Lyre (Sahitya Akademi), Like a Psalm(translation of Perumpadavam Sreedharan’s acclaimed novel Oru Sankeertanam Pole which sold more than 350,000 copies in Malayalam, a small Indian language, over the last 25 years), and many others. He has several anthology appearances in international publications. He is the recipient of Katha Award, AKMG Prize (which enabled him to tour USA, UK and Europe for 4 months in 1997. In USA, he was invited to participate in the International Writing Program at Writers’ Centre, Bethesda, Maryland, and to take part in the Annual Conference of American Writers’ Federation) and Vodafone Crossword Award (2007), for Keshavan’s Lamentations. He is Senior Fellow, Department of Culture, Govt. of India and has been an Honorary Fellow, Department of Culture, Government of South Korea.  He has been invited thrice as a Guest Speaker in writers’ conferences and readings in South Korea. He has read his poems and made presentations in Biennial Symposia of Asia-Pacific Writers in Australia and Hong Kong, on invitation, and also in conferences in Thailand and Nepal. 

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