Nair was working as the creative director of an advertising agency in Bangalore when she wrote her first book, a collection of short stories called Satyr of the Subway, which she sold to Har-Anand Press. The book won her a fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Nair's second book was published by Penguin India, and was the first book by an Indian author to be published by Picador USA. A bestselling author of fiction and poetry, Nair's novels The Better Man and Ladies Coupé have been translated into 21 languages. Among Nair's early commercial works were pieces she penned in the late 1990s for The Bangalore Monthly magazine, published by Explocity in a column titled 'The Economical Epicurean'. Thereafter followed Nair's novel The Better Man which also has been published in Europe and the United States. In 2002, appeared the collection of poems Malabar Mind, and in 2003 Where the Rain is Born - Writings about Kerala which she has edited. Anita Nair's second novel Ladies Coupé from 2001, has turned out to be an even greater success than the first both among critics and readers in so far 15 countries outside India: from the United States to Turkey, from Poland to Portugal. In 2002, Ladies Coupé was elected as one of the five best in India. The novel is about women's conditions in a male dominated society, told with great insight, solidarity and humour. Ladies Coupé was rated as one of 2002's top five books of the year and was translated into more than twenty-five languages around the world. Nair has also written The Puffin Book of Myths and Legends, a children's book on myths and legends. Nair has also edited Where the Rain is Born. Nair's writings about Kerala and her poetry has been included in The Poetry India Collection and a British Council Poetry Workshop Anthology. Her poems appeared in many prestigious poetry anthologies like The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India, featuring 151 Indian English poets, edited by Vivekanand Jha and published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada. Nair has also written a few other books, such as Mistress, Adventures of Nonu, the Skating Squirrel, Living Next Door to Alise and Magical Indian Myths. Nair's works also include many travelogues. With the playNine Faces of Being, best-selling author Anita Nair has become a playwright. The story, is adapted from Nair's book Mistress Her book Cut Like Wound introduced the fictional character Inspector Gowda. The second book in the series Chain of Custody was published in 2015. Other works by Nair include The Lilac House and Alphabet Soup for Lovers. Her sixth novel Idris: Keeper of The Light is a historical and geographical novel about a Somalian trader who visited Malabar in 1659 AD.
Awards and recognitions
Arch of Excellence Award by the All India Achievers' Conference, New Delhi for Literature
2007 LiBeraturpreis, finalist, Germany.
2008 FLO FICCI Women Achievers Award, for literature
2009 Montblanc honored her with the launch of the Special Edition writing instrument in India; for her novel contribution to literature, enforcing cross cultural endeavors and enlightening experiences that have transcended an inexhaustible diversity of forms - barriers of language, cultures and identities.
