Nellickal Muraleedharan was noticed for his modern poems and was recognised in the world of Malayalam Poetry from the early '80s. His poem 'Veedu' had brought him various appreciations from noted poets of that time. He received his first award 'Edassery Award' in 1985 for the book, "Purappad" which was a collection of his various poems. He had published various books since then, some of the noted ones are "Viroopante Pattu", 76; "Atmapuranum", 86; "Purappad", 85; "Kilivathil", 88; "Baligatha", 91; "Chitha Kadakunna Pakshikal", 92; "Bodhisatvante Jenmangal", 94 (All Poetry); "Nagarapuranum", 81 (novel); "Sahitya Sabdakaram", 93 (Dictionary of literary terms), "Nellickal Muraleedharante Kavithaakal", "Nellickal Muraleedharante Kavithaakal - Volume 2", "Veedu", "Keralathile Jaathivyavstha", "Aranmula Vallamkali", "Vishwasaahithya darshanangal".