Krishnan Nair was born in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the south Indian state of Kerala on March 3, 1923 to V. K. Madhavan Pillai and Sarada Amma.
[2] Krishnan Nair was known to have been introduced into the world of literature by his father by reading the works of Kunchan Nambiar to him when he was a boy.
His first published work was an article tilted Vimarshanam (Criticism) which appeared in Navajeevan weekly run by C. V. Kunhiraman,[1] a social reformer and journalist who would later found Kerala Kaumudi.
[6] His first book, Adunika Malayala Kavitha (Modern Malayalam Poetry), published by P. K. Brothers, was the compilation of the articles he wrote in Kaumudi during his days at the Government Sanskrit College, Thiruvananthapuram.
[1] Krishnan Nair is best known as the critic who, after Kesari Balakrishna Pillai, introduced world literature to Malayali reader and his weekly column Sahithya Vaaraphalam, ran for 35 years.
His critique of works by Malayalam authors were said to be impartial irrespective of whether the writer was a novice or an established one; he also used the column to comment upon the society.