Dr. Chandrika Balan (b.1954) who writes short stories in Malayalam in the pen name Chandramati was formerly Reader in the Department of English, All Saints' College, Thiruvananthapuram, India. She has passed her M.A. with a first class from the University of Kerala and has started her career in Govt Brennen College, Tellicherry, before joining All Saints' College,Trivandrum. She got her Ph.D in 1988 for her thesis "The Family in Post-war British Drama." and got the British Council Scholarship to visit England. She has taken an orientation course on Canadian Studies from Carleton University, Canada, and had been a Research Fellow at University of Calgary, Canada. She has also done a major research project on Indian Drama in English with UGC assistance. Dr. B. Chandrika was invited as representative of South India to the Third International Women Playwrights' Meet, Adelaide, Australia. She has participated in more than 90 seminars/ conferences - both National and International. She has received the Professor Sivaprasad Foundation Award for The Most Outstanding Teacher (1999) and The St. Berchman's Award for The Best College Teacher (2002).
Dr. Chandrika is the author of 4 critical books and 36 research papers in English. She has also translated widely from English to Malayalam and from Malayalam to English and has received the Katha National Award for English translation.
As Chandramati, creative writer in Malayalam, Dr.Chandrika Balan has published 20 books in Malayalam that include 10 collections of short stories including a novelette, an anthology of medieval Malayalam poetry, 2 collections of essays, 2 memoirs, and 5 books translated from English. She has to her credit more than 25 critical articles in Malayalam. She was one of the ten Indian writers who visited Sweden under the cultural exchange programme of the Govt. of India. Chandrika is the recipient of several Literary Awards for her stories.
Her screenplay "Arunimayude Katha" - a critique on the extravagant weddings and craze for gold in Kerala -- has been made into a short film by Social Welfare Department, Govt of Kerala in 2010