S. Hareesh

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 The novel, initially serialized in the Mathrubhumi weekly, was withdrawn after protests by right-wing Hindutva groups and caste-community organizations for "maligning Hindu women and temple priests".

Personal life & Career 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. 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. The next year, he received the Thomas Mundassery Award for short story. He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for the Best Story Writer for his anthology, Adam in 2018. He is also a recipient of the V. P. Sivakumar Memorial Keli Award as well as the Nandanar Award in 2020. Aedan, the film based on his short story for which he wrote the screenplay fetched him the Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay (adapted) in 2017.

In 2020 the English translation of Meesa, titled Moustache, received the JCB Prize for Literature.