Manu Joseph Wiki, Age, Family, Biogrphy & More

Manu Joseph is an Indian journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He is a columnist for The International New York Times and The Hindustan Times.

Wiki/Biography

Manu Joseph was born on Monday, 22 July 1974 (age 49 years; as of 2023) in Kottayam, Kerala, and he grew up in Chennai.  He completed his graduation in literature at Loyola College, Chennai. Later, he joined Madras Christian College to study Journalism but dropped out midway to become a staff writer in Society magazine.  In 2007, he won the Chevening Scholarship, an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to study at universities in the United Kingdom. At the age of 21, he moved to Bombay and currently lives in Gurgaon, an entrepreneurial satellite city of New Delhi, India.

Family

He belongs to a Tamil Brahmin family.

Parents & Siblings

Manu Joseph’s father, Joseph Madapally is a filmmaker who directed the Malayalam film Thoranam. There is not much information about his mother and siblings.

Wife & Children

There is not much information about his wife. He has a daughter named Kavya.

Religion

Manu Joseph follows Christianity (Catholic).

Career

In 2010, Manu Joseph’s first novel, Serious Men, a caste satire, was published by Harper Collins India. His second novel, The Illicit Happiness of Other People was published by Fourth Estate in September 2012. Manu Joseph has also written the screenplay for the film Love Khichdi (2009). In 2017, his book, Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous was published by Myriad Editions. Manu Joseph is the former editor of Open magazine. In January 2014, Manu resigned from the position of editor at Open magazine. ^[1]Firstpost

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• In 2010, Manu Joseph won The Hindu Literary Prize for his first novel, Serious Men (2010) and got shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize for Serious Men.

• The Huffington Post (HuffPost), an American progressive news website, listed Serius Men in the 10 Best Books of the Year in 2010.

• In 2011, the book Serious Men was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.

• His novel Serious Men (2010) won the OPEN Book Award from the largest branch of the international literary and human rights organization PEN American Center. ^[2]Los Angeles Times

• In 2013, his book The Illicit Happiness of Other People (2012) was shortlisted for The Hindu Literary Prize.

Facts/Trivia

• His debut novel Serious Men (2010) has been adapted by Sudhir Mishra as a feature film.

• Manu is the writer of Decoupled, a web series of comedy genre, which was released on Netflix on 17 December 2021. Nawazuddin Siddiqui starred in director Sudhir Mishra’s adaptation of Manu Joseph’s book, Serious Men. ^[3]The Hindustan Times

•  The novel Serious Men has been selected by The Independent and the California Chronicle, as one of the best books of 2010.

• Manu Joseph writes his satirical works in a sarcastic tone. In an interview, he revealed,
  

  I do agree that I’m sarcastic. My definition of sarcasm is something which is exaggerated. One thing I try to stay away from is some kind of hyperbole. Sometimes, it’s needed for stylistic reasons like humour, comedy or drama but otherwise, my only interest is in capturing reality and absurdity. Satire is an even bigger exaggeration of reality. For example, the film on Netflix ‘Don’t look up’.”