“The Tamil literary world, of late, has been witnessing the emergence of many powerful young writers, including women. These young writers have established themselves through their short stories, poems and other writings. This augurs well for the entire Tamil society,” says Sirpi Balasubramaniam, distinguished Tamil poet and coordinator of the Tamil Advisory Board of the Sahitya Akademi.
Dr. Sirpi Balasubramaniam is a two-time Sahitya Akademi awardee and former Head of the Department of Tamil, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. He had won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for translators in 2001 for his translation of Lalithambika Antharjanam’s Malayalam novel Agnisakshi into Tamil and again in 2003 for his poetry collection Oru Giraamathu Nadhi .
“These youngsters have the potential and thirst to make a mark. Their works attract even the average readers. They have introduced a new concept of writing and opened a new chapter in the Tamil literary world,” says Balasubramaniam.
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“They present their thoughts in a very different way, surprising even the established poets and writers. This trend is expected to continue for long and will do a lot of good to Tamil language and literature,” he adds.
Balasubramaniam is happy that the social media in bringing more and more people into the literary world. They have been expressing their opinion in the form of articles on the latest happenings around the world, which often prove eye openers to the society.
“Of late, these writings have won recognition of popular scholars. This development is expected to grow further and bring many hidden talents to the fore.”
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Writers such as S. Ramakrishnan and Jayamohan have a large fan following, even in the literary circles of other Indian and world languages.
When asked about the standard of the latest Tamil works, Dr. Balasubramaniam observed that this is not the time to evaluate the standards, but a time to increase the strength of the writers and their works. It is a matter of great happiness that many new people are concentrating on displaying their writing skills. “It is time to encourage these new comers, irrespective of the quality of their works. Let us discuss the standard later,” he says.
He welcomes the steady increase in the readership in the State. He feels that the medium school education in the State should only be in Tamil to motivate younger generation to so some serious reading.
Referring to the role of publishing houses, he points out that of late texts in other languages are being translated into Tamil and publishing houses such as Kalachuvadu and Uyirmei are doing a good work.
Balasubramaniam, who is the director of the Arulselvar Mahalingam Translation Institute, Pollachi, says that the institute has translated many science books, and works on social issues into Tamil.