D. Selvaraj gets Sahitya Akademi award for his Tamil novel

Eminent Tamil novelist D. Selvaraj, one of the founders of the Progressive Writers’ Association has won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil Literature for the year 2012.

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A historic vow revisited

On the 130th birth anniversary of Subramanya Bharati, Panchali’s Pledge — an English language translation of the poet’s classic Panchali Sabatham — by Usha Rajagopalan was launched by the Chennai Chapter of the Association of British Scholars (ABS).

The book attempts to translate the many poems that culminate in Panchali’s pledge when she was disrobed at the Kaurava court. “I grew up listening to Bharati’s songs in films and kutcheries, and always went into a trance. I couldn’t understand the songs, and I decided I would learn enough Tamil to translate this book into English,” says the author.

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A British journalist & the Tamil poet

On November 23, 1907 on Chennai’s Marina Beach, ‘between the esplanade and the surf’, a huge crowd had gathered around a small platform. A large lamp had been set on the platform to dispel the quickly enveloping monsoon darkness. In the teeming crowd, a lone European stood out. What was a white man doing at an extremist meeting being held at the height of the Swadeshi movement? He was no official or trader or missionary or even a vagrant. He was one of the finest late Victorian war correspondents, Henry Woodd Nevinson (1856–1941) whose work had been commended by writers such as Lawrence of Arabia.

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Tamil writer’s latest triumph

Born in Thanjavur District, J.M. Sali, an international figure in the Tamil literary world, has been awarded the ‘Cultural Medallion 2012’ of the National Arts Council, Singapore. President Tony Tan Keng Yam presented the award at a brief function held at the President’s residence recently.

The Cultural Medallion was instituted in 1979, to recognise individuals who have attained artistic excellence and have contributed to Singapore’s arts and culture.  

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