Biography

S. Hareesh (born 15 May 1975) is an Indian writer, translator and screenwriter of Malayalam literature and cinema. He is best known for his short stories and his acclaimed but controversial debut novel, Meesa, which explores caste in Kerala in the mid-20th century. The novel, initially serialized in the Mathrubhumi weekly, was withdrawn after protests by right-wing Hindutva groups and caste-community organizations for "maligning Hindu women and temple priests". It was later published as a full novel by DC Books. Hareesh is the recipient of several honours including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel and the Geetha Hiranyan Endowment of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. In November 2020, the English translation of Meesa, titled Moustache, was selected for the JCB Prize for Literature, the Indian literary award with the highest prize money. S. Hareesh was born on 15 May 1975 at Neendoor in Kottayam district in the South Indian state of Kerala.

Hareesh published his first book in 2005, a short story anthology titled Rasavidyayude Charithram ('The History of Alchemy'), which won him the Geetha Hiranyan Endowment Award of Kerala Sahithya Akademi. This was followed by a Malayalam translation of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, which was published by DC Books in 2012. Four years later, he published his second short story collection titled Aadam, which won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award of 2016. In 2018, his debut novel, Meesa, was serialised in Mathrubhumi weekly, but he had to withdraw it due to pressures from Hindu right-wing groups. Later, the novel was published in book format by DC Books. The same year, he brought out another short story anthology, Appan. Meesa was translated by Crossword Award winner, Jayasree Kalathil and the book was published under the title, Moustache, by Harper Perennial India in 2020.

The 2018 film Aedan was based on one of the three stories in Hareesh's short story collection Adam. The story Maoist from the collection has been adapted by Lijo Jose Pellissery for his film Jallikattu, the film was India's official entry at the 2020 Academy Awards.

He is employed as a village assistant at Kaipuzha in Kottayam.