Born on June 5, 1945, at Urulikunnam, Kottayam District, Kerala, Paul Zacharia has published over 50 works of fiction and non-fiction in Malayalam under the pen-name Zacharia. They include short stories, novellas, travelogues, film-scripts, essays on politics, literature and culture and children’s literature. His fiction has been translated into various Indian languages as also to English, German and French. He was first published in 1964.
Having obtained his Master’s in English Literature from the Bangalore University, Paul Zacharia worked as a lecturer in English in Bangalore and Kerala. Later he moved to New Delhi, working for 20 years there in publishing and media in various capacities, with Affiliated East-West Press, All India Management Association, the Press Trust of India and India Today. He returned to Kerala in 1992 as a member of the founding team of Asianet TV channel. He hosted for seven years Malayalam’s first TV review of the print media, Patravishesham.
He writes regularly for Kerala’s leading newspapers and magazines and has been a public speaker for over two decades. His columns and articles in English have appeared in national periodicals such as India Today, Outlook, The Week, The Hindu, Deccan Herald, The Pioneer, Times of India, The Hindustan Times, Tehelka, The New Indian Express and The Indian Express.
He has traveled widely in India and abroad and has published travelogues on Africa, Britain, Saudi Arabia and China.
Paul Zacharia has received numerous literary awards, including the Kendra Sahitya Akademi (Indian Academy of Literature), Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Academy of Literature) (twice), Odakkuzhal, Muttathu Varki, Padmarajan, Katha, Pravasa Kairali etc. In November 2013 he was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.
Paul Zacharia is a member of the Press Club of India, New Delhi, Trivandrum Club, Thiruvananthapuram and Technopark Club, Thiruvananthapuram. He lives in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He is married to Lalitha and has a daughter and a son. He believes he became a writer because he is first a reader and he thinks he is able to continue to write because, he imagines, he keeps his eyes open.