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, essays, columns and children's books, Zacharia is a distinguished fellow of Kerala Sahitya Akademi. He is also a recipient of the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story.

Biography

thumb|left|Zacharia at Chavara Vikas Cultural Club

Born M. P. Scaria (Zacharia) on 5 June 1945, in Urulikunnam, near Kottayam, then in Travancore, Zacharia was the youngest of the three children of a farmer named M. S. Paul of the Mundattuchundayil house and his wife, Thresiakutty Paul. His early education was at Sree Dayananda Primary School, a local school in Urulikunnam and later he continued his studies at St Joseph's High School, Vilakumadom from where he matriculated in 1960. Subsequently, he completed the pre-University course at St. Thomas College, Palai in 1961 and moved to St. Philomena's College, Mysore to earn his bachelor's degree in English Literature, History, and Economics in 1964. His post-graduate education was at the Central College of Bangalore and after earning a master's degree in English literature in 1966, he started his career as a lecturer of English at MES College, Malleswaram where he worked for a year.

Returning to his home state, Zacharia joined St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally in 1967 as a lecturer and stayed there until his move to Coimbatore in 1971 to take up the position of the area manager of Ruby Tyre and Rubber Works, Bengaluru. His stay in Coimbatore lasted only a year and shifted his base to New Delhi to spend the next two decades there, working with various media and publishing houses such as Affiliated East-West Press, All India Management Association (AIMA), Press Trust of India (PTI) and the Malayalam edition of the India Today. He returned to Kerala in 1993 and was a part of the group that founded Asianet. There, he also co-hosted a show, Patravisesham, the first television program review, along with a senior journalist, B. R. P. Bhaskar, which ran for 7 years.

Zacharia lives in Thiruvananthapuram.

Literary career

Zacharia has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges as he has limited his creative writing to short stories and novellas. He writes regularly for Kerala's leading newspapers and magazines, has been a public speaker for over two decades airing his non-conformist stance in politics, and his writing is marked by humour and unconventional themes.

  • Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2020
  • Vallathol Award 2019
  • Mathrubhumi Literary Award 2023
  • Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story (Kerala Academy of Literature)
  • Distinguished Fellowship of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi

References

Further reading

  • Paul Zacharia (Library of Congress web-page)