Bio

Paul Zacharia has authored over 50 works of fiction and non-fiction in Malayalam including short stories, novellas, travelogues, film-scripts, essays/columns and children's books. He writes in Malayalam under the pen-name 'Zacharia'. 'A Secret History of Compassion', a novel in English, is his latest work. His new novel in Malayalam is due to be published mid-2021. Due in early 2022 is a biography of Jesus the man. Zacharia writes for leading Malayalam newspapers and magazines and has been a public speaker on socio-political issues for over two decades. His columns and articles in English have appeared in various national media such as India Today, Times of India, the Hindu, Outlook, Caravan, The Week, and Tehelka. At present he writes a monthly editorial-page column in The New Indian Express. In 2004 he received the Kendra Sahitya Akademi (Indian Academy of Literature) Award, India's highest literary honor given to writers in the major Indian languages. In November 2013 Zacharia was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Academy of Literature). He has been honored with several literary awards that include Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Academy of Literature; twice), Odakkuzhal, Muttathu Varkey, Padmarajan, Katha (twice: for short fiction and translation), OV Vijayan and Vallatthol. In November 2020, the government of Kerala presented him with its top literary honor: the Ezhuthachan Award.

Zacharia is a member of the Press Club of India, New Delhi and Trivandrum Club, Thiruvananthapuram. His interests are science fiction, music, films, travel and walking.

He lives in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and is married to Lalitha. They have a daughter, Arundhati, and a son, Abhijit.