Sundara Ramaswamy

Sundara Ramaswamy (30 May 1931 – 15 October 2005) His notable works include "Oru Puliyamarathin Kathai", "J.J. Sila Kuripugal", "Kuzhanthaigal," "Pengal," and "Aangal." He was a key figure in Tamil modern literature. The translations of his novels and short stories have brought him international acclaim. Sundara Ramaswamy has been praised for his versatility and his skillful negotiation of various literary forms: poetry, short fiction, and the novel.

Ramaswamy began his literary career translating Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's Malayalam novel, Thottiyude Makan, into Tamil. His early short stories were published in progressive literary journals like Shanthi and Saraswati. He wrote over 80 short stories, three novels, a little over 100 poems, and many essays and reviews. In 1987, he launched a literary review, Kalachuvadu, which folded after eight quarterly issues and a final special edition. It was revived in a different form by his son Kannan Sundaram in 1994.

Early years Sundara Ramaswamy was born in 1931 in Thazhuviya Mahadevan Kovil, a village in Nagercoil, then part of the princely state of Travancore. He spent his childhood in Kottayam, Travancore, where his father worked as a Burmah Oil agent. Originating from a Tamil Brahmin family, he spoke the language, but as he lived in Travancore, he only learned to read and write in Malayalam. and writing his first short story, 'Muthalum Mudivum', which he published in Pudimaipithan Ninaivu Malar. He was influenced by the works of contemporary thinkers such as Gandhi, Periyar, Sri Aurobindo, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Ram Manohar Lohia, J. C. Kumarappa and J. Krishnamurty. He met the editor M. Govindan in 1957, they became friends. Oru Puliamarathin Kathai (The Story of a Tamarind Tree, 1966) was his first novel. It received critical acclaim, and is now regarded as a groundbreaking classic of Tamil literature. He edited and published a literary magazine called Kalachuvadu. Ramaswamy suspended active writing for nearly six years; and when he resumed in 1973, He published his last novel, Kuzhanthaigal, Pengal, and Aangal (Children, Women, Men) in 1995.

Poetry He wrote his first poem "Un Kai Nagam" in 1959, using the pseudonym 'Pasuvayya'

Translation Work He has translated from Malayalam into Tamil two of Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's books Chemmeen and Thottiyude Magan

Death He died in the United States from pulmonary fibrosis in 2005, aged 74. He was survived by a son and two daughters.

Awards and honours He received the Kumaran Asan Memorial Award in 1988, the Iyal Award from The Tamil Literary Garden in 2001 and the Katha Chudamani Award in 2004