Tamil writer wins highest literary award this year

TirunelveliI: Yet another Tamil literary writer, Vannadasan, from Tirunelveli region won has the country’s highest literary award—Sahitya Akademi Award this year. It is to be noted that writers from Tirunelveli region have been the recipients of this literary award for five consecutive years since 2012, when a Dalit writer D Selvaraj was selected for this honour for his novel ‘Thol’.

Selected for his short story collection, ‘Oru Siru Isai’, for the Sahitya  Akademi award this year (2016) Kalyanasundaram, with the pen name Vannadasan, son of a noted literary critic, Thi. Ka. Sivasankaran, who too is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi award for his work, “Vimarsanangal Mathipuraigal Pettikal” in the year 2000, is a poet, short story writer, a novelist and a literary critic. Vannadasan writes verses as Kalyanji.

Vannadasan, a recipient of ‘Kalaimamai Award, Thamil Perayam Award and Ilakkiya Sinthanai Award’ for his literary works, also won this year’s ’Vishnupuram Award’ instituted by the Vishnupuram Literary Circle of the famous Tamil novelist Jeyamohan.

Expressing happiness about his selection for the highest honour in the field of Tamil literature, Vannadasan said that he started writing inspired by the veteran Tamil writer Vallikannan and his initial writings were letters to Vallikannan.

He also hoped to see younger generation writers from the State, particularly from his native district of Tirunelveli, to hold up the literary tradition of Thamirabarani basin.

It is to be noted that around 15 literary writers from the southern districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari have received the Sahitya Akademi award among the 57 awardees in the state so far.

Moreover, the first Sahitya Akademi award for Tamil literature was posthumously won by a Nellaiite, R P Sethu Pillai, a noted Tamil scholar for his collection of essays, “Tamil Inbam”, said well informed sources here.