Paintings by Murali S, belong to the revolutionary category. Any evolution engenders a silent revolution in it. By doing abstraction, Murali S helps the revolutionary evolution manifest in his works. The abnegation of figuration is because Murali can no longer see the world in the figurative alignment of a culturally defined world.

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Dr. Murali Sivaramakrishnan is poet, painter, professor and former Chair of English, in Pondicherry University. He started writing at a very young age, drawing suitable inspiration from his ardent enthusiasm for natural history, especially ornithology, and his exceptional talent for sketching and painting. His early poems are replete with imagery of nature: animals and

birds, mountains and forests, the sea and the sky, all find their place in his work alongside the human. He loves to travel and sketch people and places. His earliest significant poem – “Night Heron”, appeared in Chandrabhaga, and the poet Jayanta Mahapatra noted it mainly for its singular appeal and original voice. Another longer poem “Ganga “also found a place in Chandrabhaga in the early eighties. From then onwards Murali’s poems have appeared in many reputed journals and periodicals. Whatever his other preoccupations he has been writing poetry fairly regularly. His poetry volumes include:

 

Night Heron: Poems and Sketches (1998) 

Conversations with Children (2005) 

Earth Signs (2006) 

The East-Facing Shop and other Poems (2010)

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Some of his critical writings include:

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Figuring the Female: Women’s Discourse, Art and Literature (New Delhi: The Woman Press,2005) 

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Tradition and Terrain: Aesthetic Continuities. New Delhi: B R Publishers,2005 (both co- authored with Usha V. T.) 

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Nature and Human Nature: Literature, Ecology, Meaning (New Delhi: Prestige Books,2008) 

 

Learning to Think Like Myself (New Delhi: Gnosis,2010) 

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Ecological Criticism: Application and Possibilities (New Delhi: Authors Press,2011)

 

His latest book is Strategies and Methods: Re-locating Textual Meanings, Adhyayan Publishers, New Delhi, 2017.

 

And his latest interesting research article, “Passions of the Soul: The Odyssey of Nikos Kazantzakis”, published in the Romanian Journal of Artistic Activity, Vol.5, Issue 3, 2017 is available on the net and on his website. To read more about Murali S, and his research please go to www.smuralis.wordpress.com