Edasseri Govindan Nair (23 December 1906 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian poet and playwright of Malayalam literature.

Excerpts from King Bimbisaran's Shepherd, translated by M. Leelavathi Edasseri Govindan Nair was born on 23 December 1906 at Kuttippuram, in Malapuram district in the south Indian state of Kerala to P. Krishna Kurup and Edasseri Kunjukutti Amma in a family with poor financial means.

[2][note 1] He did not have much formal education due to the death of his father in 1921 when he was only 15 years old and started his career early as an assistant to a relative, who worked in Alappuzha.

However, he compensated for the lack of formal education with hard work with voracious reading, learning Sanskrit and English on his own taking help from his friends, constantly engaging in debates on literature, criticism, science, astronomy and even astrology.

[5] His narrative style, as shown in his poems such as Poothapattu, Panimudakkam, Kalyana Pudava, Karutha Chettichikal and Kavile Pattu, was reported to reflect strong humanism.