A. J. Thomas (born 10 June 1952) is an Indian poet, translator and editor writing in English. He is best known as editor of ''

Indian Literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akadem ...

'', the bimonthly English journal of

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

(India's National Academy of Letters) which he edited till 2010.

Biography

Thomas was born in Mount Illickan valley of Western Ghats. His childhood was spent in Mechal,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

. In 1976 he took up employment with

Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) is a Public sector undertakings in Kerala, public sector undertaking that conducts and regulates the tourism activities in the Indian state of Kerala. The KTDC is headquartered at Thiruvananthapur ...

. Subsequently, he came in contact with internationally renowned writers like

Dominique Lapierre Dominique Lapierre (30 July 1931 – 2 December 2022) was a French author. Life Dominique Lapierre was born in Châtelaillon-Plage, Charente-Maritime, France. At the age of thirteen, he travelled to the U.S. with his father who was a diploma ...

, Sir Angus Wilson,

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

, and Indian writers like

Pritish Nandy Pritish Nandy (15 January 1951 – 8 January 2025) was an Indian poet, painter, journalist, politician, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, television and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the Ra ...

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Narayanan Nair (15 July 1933 – 25 December 2024) was an Indian author, lecturer, Screenwriter, screenplay writer and film director. He was a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and was o ...

who inspired him.

Literary works

Thomas has translated poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction from

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

to English. His first book of note was ''Bhaskara Pattelar and Other Stories,'' a translation of

Paul Zacharia Mundattuchundayil Paul Scaria (born 5 June 1945), popularly known as Paul Zacharia or Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, ess ...

's stories. This was a recreation of the original with Gita Krishnankutty and Zacharia as contributors. Thomas's literary works have appeared in poetry anthologies like '' The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India'', featuring 151 Indian English poets, edited by Vivekanand Jha and published by Hidden Brook Press,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. and ''Converse: Contemporary English Poetry by Indians'' (2022) edited by Sudeep Sen and published by Pippa Rann Books, ondon

Awards and recognition

Thomas has received more recognition for literary translation. He won Katha award for his translation of Paul Zacharia's story "Salam America". The verse-fiction ''Ujjaini'', based on the life of Kalidasa by O. N. V. Kurup, the doyen of Malayalam poetry, in Thomas's translation, won critical acclaim. For translating the novel ''Keshavan’s Lamentions,'' by veteran Malayalam novelist M. Mukundan, he won the

Vodafone Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

2007. According to Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan, the Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Awards of

were the original brain child of A. J. Thomas. Thomas was the chief editor of

till 25 August 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, A. J. 1952 births Living people 20th-century Indian translators Indian male poets Poets from Kerala English-language poets from India