The Tamil Literary Garden

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The Tamil Literary Garden

Formation	2001
Type	Charitable Organization
Headquarters	Toronto, Canada
Official language	Tamil
President	Manuel Jesudasan
Past President	Chelva Kanaganayakam
Secretary	Appadurai Muttulingam
Board Members	N.K. Mahalingam (Treasurer), Selvam Arulanandam (Director), Usha Mathivanan (Director)
Volunteers	22
Website	www.tamilliterarygarden.com

The Tamil Literary Garden, is a Canadian literary organization and charity founded in 2001. The focus of this organization is on supporting translations of Tamil literature, sponsoring lecture series, commissioning publications, launching books and recognizing annually significant achievements in Tamil in a number of genres and fields.

Over a span of a few years, the activities grew to include a number of awards, such as the best work of fiction, non-fiction and poetry for the year. Translation award and Information technology in Tamil award were added on subsequently. A scholarship for a student essay submitted in English by an undergraduate or graduate student in Ontario was also introduced. In order to make the process both rigorous and transparent, a number of advisors and an international panel of judges were included.

On 3 March 2010, the Tamil Literary Garden was accepted as a charitable organization.^[1] Currently 22 volunteers take part in its activities on a regular basis assisted by the board members and none receives any financial compensations. The financial statements are being audited by a firm of Chartered Accountants.

Its founding members include Chelva Kanaganayakam, Appadurai Muttulingam, Kandiah Mahalingam, Selvam Arulanandam, and Sivakumaran Subramaniyam.

Awards[]

Iyal award[]

Iyal award is a Lifetime Achievement Award, given annually to a writer, scholar, critic or editor, who, over a period of time, has made a very significant contribution to the growth or study of Tamil literature. Every year, the Tamil Literary Garden sends out a call for nominations internationally.

The nominations are reviewed by an international panel of judges who determine the winner for the year. The recipient is invited to the annual awards ceremony in Toronto where he or she is given the award that includes a cash prize of C$2,500. The Lifetime Achievement Award in Tamil is the only one of its kind anywhere in the world and is similar to other prestigious awards given in Canada, USA and U.K. It is open to all, regardless of nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, or gender.

Year	Winner	Profession	Country
2001	Sundara Ramaswami	Writer	India
2002	K.Ganesh	Writer	Sri Lanka
2003	Venkat Swaminathan	Writer/ Critic	India
2004	Pathmanaba Iyer	Writer/ Publisher	U.K
2005	George L. Hart	Professor of Tamil, University of California, Berkeley	U.S.A
2006	A.C.Tarcisius	Playwright/ Director	U.K
2007	Lakshmi Holmstrom	Writer/ Translator	U.K
2008	Ambai (C.S.Lakshmi)	Writer	India
2009	Kovai Gnani	Writer	India
2009	Iravatham Mahadevan[2]	Research Scholar	India
2010	S.Ponnuthurai	Writer	Australia
2011	S.Ramakrishnan	Writer	India
2012	Nanjil Nadan[3]	Writer	India
2013	S.Theodore Baskaran	Writer	India
2013	Dominic Jeeva	Writer	Sri Lanka
2014	Jeyamohan	Writer	India
2015	R.Mayooranathan	Architect	Sri Lanka
2016	N.Sukumaran	Writer/Poet	India
2017	Kalyana Sundaram Sivasankaran (Vannadasan)	Writer/Poet	India
2018	V. Annamalai(Imayam)	Writer	India

Fiction Award[]

Year	Winner	Book
2005	So. Tharman	Kookai
2006	Joe D Cruz	Aazhi Soozh Ulagu
2007	S.Ramakrishnan	Yamam
2008	Thamizhavan	Vaaravil Oru Kadavul
2009	Jeyamohan	Kotravai
2010	P.Karunakaramoorthy	Pathungu Kuzhi
2010	S.Venkatesan	Kaaval Kottam
2011	Yuvan Chandrasekar	Payanak Kathai
2012	Kanmani Gunasekaran	Anjalai
2013	Keeranur Jakir Raja	Jinnavin Diary
2013	Subramania Sritharan	Sritharan Kathaikal
2014	B.Devakanthan	Kanavuchirai
2015	Shoba Sakthi	Kandy Veeran
2016	Sayanthan	Athirai
2017	Tamilmagan	Vengai Nangoorathin Jeen Kurippukal
2018	Deebachelvan	Nadukal

Non-Fiction Award[]

Year	Winner	Book
2005	Crea Ramakrishnan	Tharkaalath Thamizakaraathi
2006	A. Revathy	Unarvum Uruvamum
2007	Nanjil Nadan	Nathiyin Pizhaiyandru Narumpunal Inmai
2008	Dr.Murugar Gunasingam	Ilangayil Thamizhar
2009	Dr.N.Subramanian	Eelathu Tamizh Novel Ilakkiyam
2009	Aa.Sivasubramanian	Ash Kolaiyum Inthiya Puradchi Iyakkamum
2010	R.S.Sugirtharajah	Panpaattu Porkanikal
2010	S.Theodore Baskaran	Innum Pirakkaatha Thalaimuraikkaaka
2011	Perumal Murugan	Ketta Varththai Pesuvom
2012	Prapanchan	Thazhap Parakkum Paraththayar Kodi
2012	Appu	Vanni Yuththam
2013	M.Pushparajan	Nambikkaikalukku Appaal
2014	M.Nithiyananthan	Kooliththamil
2014	M.Jeyarani	Jathiyarravalin Kural
2015	Ashokamitran	Kurukku Veddukal
2016	Mysskin	Onayum Aaddukkuddiyum
2017	Professor E.Balasundaram	Canadavil Ilangai Thamizarin Vaazvum Valamum
2018	Umaji	Kaakkaa koththiya kaayam

Poetry Award[]

Year	Winner	Book
2006	Dr. U. Cheran	Meendum Kadalukku
2007	K.Vesudean	Tholaivil
2008	Leena Manimekalai	Ulagin Azhagiya Muthal Pen
2009	Sukumaaran	Poomiyai Vaasikkum Sirumi
2010	Thirumavalavan	Irul Yaazhi
2010	Manushya Puthiran	Adheethathin Rusi
2011	Devadhachan	Irandu Sooriyan
2011	Anar	Enakkuk Kavithai Mukam
2012	Theva Abira	Irul Thinra Eelam
2012	Nillanthan	Yugapuraanam
2013	Isai	Sivaji Ganesanin Muththangal
2014	Kathirbharathi	Mesiyavukku Moonru Machangal
2015	Kumaragurubaran	Marupadiyum muthalil irunthu arampikka mudiyaathu
2016	P.Sankara Rama Subramanian	Ayiram Santhosha Ilaikal
2017	Packiyanathan Ahilan	Ammai
2018	Bogan Shankar	SiRiya eNkaL thoongkum aRai

Translation Award[]

Year	Translator	Translation Title	Original Title	Author
2011	G.Kuppuswamy	En Peyar Sivappu	My Name is Red	Orhan Pamuk
2012	M.A.Susila	Asadan	The Idiot	Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2012	Vaidehi Herbert [4]	'Mullaippaattu' and 'Nedunalvaadai'	'Mullaippāṭṭu' and 'Neṭunalvāṭai'
2013	C.Mohan and Aniruddhan Vasudevan	Onaai Kulachchinnam	One Part Woman	Perumal Murugan
2014	Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai	Madras Studios – Narrative Genre and Ideology in Tamil Cinema
2014	K.V.Shylaja	Yaarukkum Vendaatha Kan
2015	N. Kalyan Raman (Tamil to English)	Farewell, Mahatma
2015	Puviyarasu (English to Tamil)	Mirthathin Puththakam
2016	Rishan Shareef (Sinhalese to Tamil)	Iruthi Maniththiyalam
2016	Eveline Masilamani Meyer (Tamil to German)	Bananenblatter und StraBenstaub
2017	D.I.Aravindanr (English to Tamil)	Balasaraswathi: Her Life and Art
2018	Dr, R. Karthigesu (Tamil to English)	Kadalukku appaal	Beyond Sea	P. Singaram
2018	Era Murugan (Malayaalamto Tamil)	Peeranki PaadalkaL	Lanthan paththEriyile luththiniyakaL	N.S. Maathavan

Information Technology in Tamil Award[]

Year	Winner
2006	Dr K.Srinivasan[5]
2007	Dr.K.Kalyanasundaram
2008	Suratha Yarlvanan
2009	Tamil Linux KDE Group
2010	Muthu Nedumaaran
2011	Vasu Renganathan
2012	Mugunthraj Subramanian
2013	Mani Manivannan
2014	Muthiah Annamalai
2015	S.Raja Raman (Neechalkaran)
2016	T.Shrinivasan
2017	Sasiharan Pathmanathan
2018	Ramasamy Duraipandi

Foreign Language Award[]

Year	Winner
2017	Anuk Arudpragasam

Special Recognition Awards[]

Apart from the yearly awards, Special Recognition Awards are given on ad-hoc basis for outstanding contributions to Tamil Literature. So far three such awards were given.

Dec 2006: A.J.Canagaratne, born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka is a great intellect and his most important contribution to Tamil literature is literary criticism. He gave new direction to the growth of literature in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

July 2010: Sascha Ebeling, Asst Professor, University of Chicago, U.S.A is a researcher in Tamil language and literature of all periods, in particular 19th century culture and Tamil epigraphy. His work on 19th century Tamil literature has won two awards.

July 2013: Mr. & Mrs. Aseervatham, This award is given for the commitment to Tamil and the sponsorship of Tamil Literary Garden.

July 2015: So. Pathmanathan and Brenda Beck

July 2016: Dr. David Shulman in honour of All Teachers of the World

July 2016: Ira Ilangkumaran

June 2017: Sivakumaran Subramaniam (Chezhian)

June 2017: T. Gnanasekaran in honour of All Teachers of the World

June 2017: Dr. Nicholapillai Marier Xavier

June 2018: Navin Manogaran

June 2019: S. Thiruchelvam

Scholarship Award[]

The scholarship award was established in 2008 in order to encourage and promote Tamil Studies in the diaspora, particularly among the second generation.

Year	Winner	Essay Title
2008	Angela Britto	Naan Poitu Varan: The Importance of Tamil Studies in a Diasporic Context
2009	Kirubhalani Giruparajah	Canadian Multiculturalism - A Tamil Perspective
2010	Serothy Ramachandran	Media and Politics in Tamil Studies
2011	Ram Adrian	The Private and the Public: A Canadian Tamil Perspective
2012	Mira Ragunathan	Building Bridges: Constructing a Tamil Community in Canada
2013	Elina Toporos and Arundathy Nedra Rodrigo	New Technologies: Refashioning a Tamil Identity
2014	Vasugi Kailasam and Yugendra Ragunathan	Renegotiating New Meanings of Self in Tamil Canadian Diasporaa
2015	Renuka Murthi	Innovative Forms of Tamil Expression Today
2016	Sopika Sathiyaseelan	You Have Already Set Yourself on Fire
2017	Shangari Vijenthira	Social Media and the Making of Tamil Identities.
2018	Kalayani Rathakrishnan	What symbolizes Tamilness for me?.

Nominations[]

Nomination forms are available in the website. It can be applied for self or others before 31 October of every year.

See also[]

• Appadurai Muttulingam
• Jeyamohan
• S.Ramakrishnan

References[]

External links[]

• ValaiTamil.com - Tamil Largest Literary Garden
• The Tamil Literary Garden
• Tamil Literary Garden on Vimeo
• Tamil Literary Garden - YouTube channel
• Speech by Jeyamohan as Special Guest
• Article about Tamil Literary Garden in Toronto Star