Imayam is the pen name of V. Annamalai, a schoolteacher and writer in Tamil, who has published eight novels, Koveru Kazhuthaigal, Arumugam, Chedal, En Kathe, Selladha Panam, Vaazhga Vaazhga, Ippodhu Uyirodirukkiren, and Nenjaruppu, as well as a novella, Pethavan. He also has to his credit eight short-story collections. He has won several prestigious awards, including the Agni Akshara Award (1994), Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers’ Association Award (1994), Amuthan Adigal Award for Literature (1998), Iyal Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), and the Sahitya Akademi Award (2022).

Dr D. Venkataramanan is an Associate Professor at the Department of English, University of Madras. He joined the Department in 2004, before which he worked as a Sports Editor at Chennai Online, a sub-editor at The Indian Express, and as an assistant sub-editor at Orient Longman. Many of his book reviews have appeared in The Indian Express. Dr Venkataramanan has freelanced for Vijay Nicole Imprints and The Hindu, and has also done pre-publication reviews for Vijay Nicole Imprints, Sage Publications and McGraw Hill India.