Charu Nivedita

Charu Nivedita
Born	K. Arivazhagan (1953-12-18) 18 December 1953 (age 71) Idumbavanam, Thiruvarur (then: Thanjavur), Tamil Nadu, India
Pen name	Charu Nivedita
Occupation	Writer, Novelist
Nationality	Indian
Genre	Autofiction, Transgressive Fiction, Metafiction, Postmodernism
Notable works	Zero Degree , Marginal Man, Morgue Keeper
Spouse	Avanthika
Website
charunivedita.com// charuonline.com/blog/
Literatureportal

Charu Nivedita aka Charu (born 18 December 1953) is a Tamil writer based in Chennai, India.

His novel Zero Degree (1998) was translated into English in 2013 and longlisted that year for the annual Jan Michalski Prize for Literature. ^[1] It was also selected or the prestigious 50 Writers, 50 Books - The Best of Indian Fiction, published in 2013 by HarperCollins. ^{[2] [3]}

Charu uses postmodern themes in his writing. He was selected as one among 'Top Ten Indians of the Decade 2001 - 2010' by The Economic Times . He is inspired by Marquis de Sade and Andal. ^[4]

In addition, he has written essays published in such magazines as Art Review Asia, The Asian Age ^[5] and Deccan Chronicle . ^[6]

His most recent novel, Conversations With Aurangzeb, was released in October 2023. It is part satire and part historical fiction, exploring the enigmatic persona of the controversial 17th-century Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. This Novel won the Crossword Award in 2024. ^[7]

Bibliography

Works available in English

1. Zero Degree (Novel)
2. Marginal Man (Novel)
3. To Byzantium: A Turkey Travelogue
4. Unfaithfully Yours (Collection of articles)
5. Morgue Keeper (Selected short stories)
6. Towards a Third Cinema (Articles on Latin American Cinema)
7. Conversations With Aurangzeb

Novels

1. Existentialism and Fancy Baniyan - Tamil / Malayalam
2. Zero Degree - Tamil / English / Malayalam
3. Rasa Leela
4. Kaamarooba Kathaigal
5. Thegam
6. Marginal Man (Tamil title was named 'Exile') - Tamil / English
7. Conversations With Aurangzeb (Tamil title was Naanthaan Aurangzeb)

Short stories

1. Carnataka Murasum Naveena Tamil Ilakiyathin Meethana Oru Amaipiyal Aayvum - Collection of short stories, published along with Nagaarchunan and Sylvia, aka M.D. Muthukumarasamy
2. Nano
3. Madumitha Sonna Pambu Kathaigal
4. Shakespeare-in Minnanjal Mugavari (Shakespeare's e-mail address)
5. Kadal Kanni - Short stories translated from world literature
6. Oorin miga azhagaana Pen – Translated short stories from world Literature
7. Muthukkal Pathu - Selected short stories
8. Morgue Keeper - Selected short stories in English in Kindle
9. "Diabolically Yours", in Exotic Gothic, Volume 5

Collection of articles

1. Konal Pakkangal - Part 1
2. Konal Pakkankal - Part 2
3. Konal Pakkangal - Part 3
4. Dhisai Ariyum Paravaigal
5. Moodupani Saalai
6. Varambu Meeriya Pradhigal
7. Thoppul Thalangal
8. Kalagam Kaadhal Isai
9. Dante-yin Siruththai
10. Yenakku Kuzhandhaigalai Pidikadhu
11. Kadavulum Nanum
12. Kalaiyum Kaamamum
13. Kadavulum Saithaanum
14. Sarasam Sallabam Saamiyar
15. Vaazhvadhu eppadi
16. Ketta vaarththai
17. Malawi endroru Desam
18. Azaadhi Azaadhi Azaadhi
19. Adhigaaram Amaidhi Sudhanthiram
20. Kanavugalin mozhipeyarppaalan
21. Manamkoththi paravai
22. Enge Un Kadavul?
23. Kadaisip Pakkangal
24. Vetrulagavaasiyin Diarykkuripugal
25. Pazhuppu Nirap Pakkangal - Part 1
26. Pazhuppu Nirap Pakkangal - Part 2
27. Pazhuppu Nirap Pakkangal - Part 3
28. Nadodiyin Natkuripugal
29. Medusavin Mathukoppai
30. Kanavu Cappucino Konjam Chatting - 1
31. Kanavu Cappucino Konjam Chatting - 2
32. Kanavugalin Mozhipayarpalan
33. Itchaigalin Irulveli
34. To Byzantium - A Turkey Travelogue (Tamil title was named 'Nilavu Theyatha Thesam) - Tamil/English
35. Unfaithfully Yours - Collection of articles
36. Mazhaiya Peigirathu
37. Anithavin anthapuram

Play

1. Rendaam Aattam
2. Antonin Artaud - Oru Kilarchikkaranin Udal

Cinema review

1. Latin American Cinema
2. Cinema: Alainthuthiribavanin Azhagiyal
3. Theeraakaadhali
4. Cinema Cinema
5. Naragaththilirundhu oru kural
6. Kanavugalin Nadanam
7. Towards a Third Cinema
8. Oliyin Perunchalanam

Collection of interviews

1. Ozhunginmaiyin Veriyaattam
2. Ichchaigalin Irulveli (Second edition of the erstwhile Paaliyal - Oru Urayaadal that comes with the new title)

Question and Answers

1. Arugil Varaadhey
2. Aram Porul Inbam

Awards and accolades

• Zero Degree was selected for the 50 Writers, 50 Books - The Best of Indian Fiction, edited by Chandra Siddan and Pradeep Sebastian, published by HarperCollins. ^{[2] [3]}
• He was selected as among 'Top Ten Indians of the Decade 2001 - 2010' by The Economic Times .
• Zero Degree (in English) was long-listed for the 2013 edition of Jan Michalski Prize. ^[1]
• Zero Degree was selected in 2013 as one of "fifteen lesser known yet incredible Indian novels" by Mensxp.com. ^[8]
• The Hindu included Nivedita in its list of "Manathil Pathintha Mugangal 25" (Twenty-Five Eminent Personalities of Tamil Nadu) in its Diwali Malar 2014.
• He received the Kannadasan Award in 2019.
• Naanthaan Aurangzeb was selected as the best novel of the year 2021 by Vasagasalai.
• He received the 2022 Vishnupuram award, ^[9] a literary award instituted by Vishnupuram Ilakkiya Vattam.
• Conversations With Aurangzeb won the Crossword Award in 2024.

Literary contemporaries on Charu Nivedita

• Vahni Capildeo places Charu Nivedita on par with Vladimir Nabokov, James Joyce and Jean Genet, in her article in the Caribbean Review of Books. ^[10]
• In his foreword to the Malayalam translation of Zero Degree, Paul Zacharia wrote, "It is like an open experimental laboratory. Amidst the smoke, noxious vapors, and beautiful imagery, I experienced a wondrous journey." ^[11]
• Tarun Tejpal wrote that Zero Degree is remarkable for its experimental voice and its varying and shifting tonalities. ^[12]
• Anil Menon considers Zero Degree bold and ambitious. ^[13]
• Translator Jason Grunebaum considers Zero Degree "wildly exciting". ^[14]

Public events

Literary festivals

• Charu Nivedita was one of the invitees for the 2010 ^[15] and 2011 ^[16] editions of Almost Island Dialogues, New Delhi.
• He was one of the invitees for the Hay Festival 2010, Thiruvananthapuram. ^{[17] [18]}
• Hay Festival 2011, Thiruvananthapuram was inaugurated at the British Deputy High Commission, Chennai by Mike Nithavrianakis, the then Deputy High Commissioner, followed by a reading of an excerpt from Charu Nivedita's works. ^[19]
• He was one of the invitees for the 2012 edition of Jaipur Literary Festival. ^{[20] [21] [22]}
• He was felicitated at the Twenty Sixth Anniversary Celebration of Katha, a monthly literary magazine of Sambad (an Odia daily) at Bhubaneswar on 10 February 2013. ^[23]
• He was one of the invitees for the Brahmaputra Literary Festival 2017. ^{[24] [25]}
• He was one of the panelists in Kerala Literature Festival 2017. ^{[26] [27]}
• He was one of the speakers the Manipal International Literature and Arts Platform 2018 ^{[28] [29]}

Film festivals

• Charu Nivedita was invited as the Guest of Honour on 10 March 2002 at the National Folklore Support Centre Folk Festival, Chennai. ^[30]
• He inaugurated the Third SIO Samvedana Vedhi International Film Festival, 2010, organised by the Students Islamic Organisation of India wing of the University of Calicut. ^[31]
• He inaugurated the International Film Festival of Tamil Nadu 2010, Chennai, organised by the International Tamil Film Academy and Seventh Channel Communications. ^[32]
• He inaugurated the Fourth Panchajanyam International Film Festival 2011 at Chittur, Kerala. ^[33]
• He inaugurated the valedictory session of the Third International Film Festival 2011, Kochi, which was jointly organised by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Heart Light Association and the Ernakulam District Information Office. ^[34]
• At the 2013 Chennai Rainbow Film Festival (LGBT Film Festival), presented by Alliance Française de Madras, he participated in the 'Panel Discussion on Media Portrayal of LGBT issues.' ^{[35] [36]}

Lectures and meets

• Charu Nivedita delivered the 2009 Paul Chirakkarode Memorial Lecture at Kottayam. ^[37]
• He was invited to speak at the valedictory function of ‘Thattakaperuma,' a series of programmes to observe the second death anniversary of Kovilan, Malayalam writer at Thrissur on 3 June 2012. ^[38]
• He delivered the commemoration speech at the 'Bob Marley Cultural Fest' on 11 May 2010 at Kochi. ^{[39] [40]}
• He was one of the panelists at the Outlook Speak Out debate 2010, Chennai on the subject 'Moral Policing in a Democracy'. ^[41]

Social activism

• 
  Charu Nivedita at Velichikala - Anti-clay mining protest, May 12, 2008
• 
  Charu Nivedita at Velichikala
• 
  Charu Nivedita at Plachimada Anti-Coca-Cola Relay Hunger Strike, 77th day, May 13, 2008

• He was invited as the chief guest of Sambavas' annual celebrations (a Dalit caste) at Chalakudy in Kerala on 11 May 2008. ^[42]
• He inaugurated a meeting and spoke among the adivasis protesting against wanton clay mining at Velichikala, near Kollam. ^[43]
• He addressed a gathering of Plachimada villagers who were on a relay hunger strike against Coca-Cola's wanton over-drawing of groundwater and polluting water bodies. ^[44]
• He marched with villagers protesting against Coca-Cola and Pepsi's wanton overdrawing of groundwater at Kanjikode, near Palakkad on 29 August 2008. ^[45]
• He inaugurated a symposium on Mullaiperiyar Dam issue organized by 'Uyiru', a joint cultural forum of Tamil and Malayalam writers and social activists on 7 July 2012 at Kottayam. ^[46]

'Zero Degree' in Academics

• Zero Degree was on the curriculum in Spring 2010 in a Comparative World Literature course, taught by Jordan Smith, at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). ^[47]
• University of Rochester has included Zero Degree in its translation program. ^{[48] [49]}
• The Malayalam translation of Zero Degree is in the curriculum for postgraduate students at the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.
• An IIT Guwahati research article terms Zero Degree a metamodern novel. ^[50]

Quotations

• "I convert my schizoid (state) into an art." ^[51]
• "There is nothing like planning in my literature, at any point of time. It's something which gets written between the schizoid state and dreams. Hence, with this same reason, I cannot comment on my writing. Like how I don't accept the roles of a father, a son, a lover, a friend – I despise the role of a writer too. My writing is nothing but the brush strokes of a person trying to escape from hell."
• "Hatred is a disease."

See also

• List of Indian writers

References

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2. "The best of Indian fiction". The Hindu. 7 July 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2017– via www.thehindu.com.
3. "Print Pick". The Hindu. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2017– via www.thehindu.com.
4. "Hot between the lines". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
5. "Charu Nivedita". The Asian Age. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
6. "Poor writers, naked rajas". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
7. "From Twinkle Khanna to Ruskin Bond: Big Winners at Crossword Book Awards 2024". Times Now. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
8. "15 Lesser Known Yet Incredible Indian Authors You Should Read Instead Of Chetan Bhagat & Durjoy Dutta". Mensxp.com. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
9. "Charu Nivedita chosen for Vishnupuram literary award". The Hindu. 7 December 2022.
10. "CRB • Questions of approach, part 3 • Vahni Capildeo". caribbeanreviewofbooks.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
11. "My novel was treated like a song of freedom: Charunivedita". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
12. "JAN MICHALSKI PRIZE FOR LITERATURE" (PDF). Fondation-janmichalski.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
13. "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Anil Menon". SF Signal. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
14. "The Jason Grunebaum Interview". Quarterly Conversation. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
15. "Indian International Centre : Annual report 2010-2011" (PDF). Iicdelhi.nic.in. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
16. "EVENTS IN THE CITY, MARCH 7 TO MARCH 14". Delhiexpatclub.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
17. "Schedule for Hay Festival in Kerala (November 12 to November 14)". The Hindu. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
18. "Hay Session: 'A Song of Celebration, A Song of Freedom' - Trivandrum News - Yentha.com". Yentha.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
19. "Run-up to Hay Festival on in full swing in city". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
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21. "22 Jan: Day 3 - Jaipur Literature Festival 2012". Jaipurliteraturefestival.org. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
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23. "Welcome to my web address". Soumyapatnaik.in. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
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25. "Brahmaputra lit-fest starts today". www.merinews.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
26. "Programs | KLF 2017". Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
27. "KLF 2017 » CHARU NIVEDITA". www.keralaliteraturefestival.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
28. "Tamil, Threats and Transgression: Charu Nivedita on 'Symbols of Diversity in Writing'". The Manipal Journal. 7 September 2018.
29. "Lively talks on day 2 of Manipal lit fest". The Hindu. 8 September 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
30. "Embroidery: The Universal Thread". Indianfolklore.org. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
31. "Inaguration [sic] by Charu nivedita - Examined Life - International Film Festival". Archived from the original on 4 August 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
32. "Mysskin goes candid - Mysskin - Charu Nivedita - Anjathey - Chithiram Pesithadi - Tamil Movie News". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
33. "Film fete to begin tomorrow". The Hindu. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
34. "Film festival concludes". The Hindu. April 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
35. "Rainbow fest ends on a colourful note". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
36. "Chennai Rainbow Film Festival (Press Release)". Gaysi. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
37. "Google Groups" . Retrieved 20 December 2014.
38. "Quality of literature down: Charu Nivedita". The Hindu. 3 June 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
39. "Socialistplatform". Socialistplatform.blogspot.in. May 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
40. "Google Groups" . Retrieved 20 December 2014.
41. "'Moral policing' at the fore of debate". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
42. ":: CHARUNIVEDITA ::". Charuonline.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
43. "Clay-mining: convention to mark third anniversary of stir". The Hindu. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
44. ":: CHARUNIVEDITA ::". Charuonline.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
45. "കുടിവെള്ളം ചോര്ത്തുന്ന കോളക്കമ്പനികളെ ജനകീയ ശക്തികൊണ്ട്‌ നേരിടണം -ചാരുനിവേദിത". Charuonline.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
46. "Discussion on Mullaperiyar dam to be held in Kottayam". The Hindu. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
47. "On Charu Nivedita's 'Zero Degree' (Trans. by Pritham K. Chakravarthy & Rakesh Khanna) - In a Brown Study". In a Brown Study. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
48. "Three Percent: Blaft Publications and Zero Degree". Rochester.edu. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
49. "Three Percent: Interview with Rakesh Kumar of Blaft". Rochester.edu. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
50. "Is Charu Nivedita's Zero Degree an exercise in Metamodernism? – Drishti".
51. "Video recording". F.vimeocdn.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.

External links

• An excerpt from Zero Degree
• Morgue Keeper Short Story