Anees Salim


Anees Salim is an Indian author known for his books like Vanity Bagh, The Blind Lady's Descendants and the Small Town Sea. He is from the town of Varkala, and now lives in Kochi, Kerala. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for The Blind Lady's Descendants in 2018, becoming only the fourth Malayalee in history to win the award for an English work. Some of his columns have appeared in newspaper The Indian Express.

Life and career

Anees Salim was born in Varkala, a small town in Kerala, in 1970. In an interview to The Hindu, Salim says he inherited his love for words from his father who used to work in West Asia. Salim is the Creative Director for FCB Ulka, the multi-national advertising firm, and lives in Kochi. Despite his background in PR and advertising, Salim makes a point of avoiding promotional tours and speaking at literary festivals.
In an interview to the Earthen Lamp Journal, Salim talks about how his first two novels were rejected by publishers. It was his third book, Tales from a Vending Machine, that helped his career as a writer take off. Sold to a publisher within a week, it renewed interest in his other works and, as Salim says, "fetched me four book deals."

Awards and honours