Ki. Rajanarayanan (b. 1923), popularly known as Ki. Ra., was a powerful writer and teller of tales rooted in the soil of Tamil Nadu, and a recipient of the prestigious Kalaimamani and Sahitya Akademi awards. His 1958 short story "Mayamaan" is often seen as marking the beginning of the Golden Age of modern Tamil literature. Veering away from the European influences which characterized much of the fiction from the Tamil revivalist period, Ki. Ra. chose to relate tales in the spoken dialect of the land in which he was born.

He continued to produce work well into this century, publishing a collection of stories and helping launch a new literary magazine at the age of 97. He was cremated in 2021 with full state honours.