PRAPANCHAN is the pseudonym of writer Sarangapani Vaithilingam. His first collection of short stories in Tamil was released in 1961. Since then, he has been a prolific writer with 250 short stories, 14 Kurunavalgal, 10 novels and 300 essays to his credit. They have been brought out in the form of 64 books. Most of these have been translated into other Indian languages, English and French. He has been the recipient of various prizes/awards from the governments of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry including the Ilakiya Sinthanai Prize, the Kovai Kasturi Rangammal Prize, the West Bengal Basha Prize. He was awarded the 1995 Sahitya Akademi Prize for his novel, Vanam Vasappadum . He divides his time between Chennai and Puducherry.
S. RAMAKRISHNAN is an influentially important writer of modern Tamil literature. He is a full-time writer who has been active over the last 25 years in diverse areas of Tamil literature. He has to his credit seven novels, 14 collections of short stories, 34 collections of articles, 10 books for children, three books of translation, nine plays and a collection of interviews. His short stories and articles have been translated and published in English, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and French. Among his many awards are the Tagore Literary Award for his novel Yamam , the Iyal Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Maxim Gorky Award, the Kannadasan Literary Award, the Wisdom Young Achiever Award, the Nalli-Thisai Ettum Award, the Salem Tamil Sangam award, and Periyar Award.
D.I. ARAVINDAN is a journalist, writer, critic and translator. He is now Features Editor in The Hindu Tamil . He has published 10 books, including novels, short-story collections, and critical essays. He has also written the Mahabharata for children. Aravindan attended a workshop in Wales, the U.K. on a translation project to bring Welsh literature to Tamil through English. He has also written a book on writer Sundara Ramaswamy’s life and literary works for Sahitya Akademi. As a journalist, Aravindan’s primary interests revolve around social issues, women’s issues, literature and cricket. He has appeared in talk shows such as Neeya Naana .
S.A. KANDASAMY is a well-known Tamil critic, author, scholar and documentary filmmaker. His first novel Saayaa Vanam (1968) was listed by the National Book Trust of India as a masterpiece in modern Indian literature. He has to his credit 14 novels, 16 short story collections and 12 collections of essays. He founded a ‘Literary Society’ in Chennai in 1966 and was associated with the literary magazine Ka Sa Da Tha Pa Ra. He has been an advisory board member of the Film Censor Board, the National Book Trust and the Sahitya Akademi. His novel Visaranai Commission won him the Sahitya Akademi award in 1998. He has made documentary films on authors and artists like Jayakanthan, Ashokamitran, S. Dhanapal and Adimoolam. In 2009, he was awarded the Kalaimamani Award by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
