59 Tamil language writers

Maraimalai Adigal was a Tamil orator and writer and father of Pure Tamil movement. He was a fervent Saivite Hindu. He wrote more than 100 books, including works on original poems tand dramas, but most famous are his books on his research into Tamil literature. Most of his literary works were on Saivism. He founded a Saivite institution called Podhunilaik Kazhagam. He was an exponent of the Pure Tamil movement and hence considered to be the father of Tamil linguistic purism. He advocated the use of Tamil devoid of Sanskrit words and hence changed his birth name Vedhachalam to Maraimalai.

Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar, also known as V. V. S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu who fought against the British occupation of India. His contemporaries include Subramanya Bharathi and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, who subscribed to the militant form of resistance against the British. He went into exile in Pondicherry, then under French rule, when his militant activities attracted a warrant for his arrest from the British colonial government.

Ashokamitran was the pen name of Jagadisa Thyagarajan, an Indian writer regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-independent Tamil literature. He began his prolific literary career with the prize winning play "Anbin Parisu" and went on to author more than two hundred short stories, and a dozen novellas and novels. A distinguished essayist and critic, he was the editor of the literary journal "Kanaiyaazhi". He has written over 200 short stories, eight novels, some 15 novellas besides other prose writings. Most of his works have also been translated into English and other Indian languages, including Hindi, Malayalam, and Telugu.

Thangar Bachan is an Indian film director and actor, cinematographer and novelist. He have served as jury member in National Film Awards.

Balakumaran was an Indian Tamil writer and author of over 200 novels, 100 short stories, and dialogue/screenplay writer for 23 films. He also contributed to Tamil periodicals such as Kalki, Ananda Vikatan and Kumudam. His Notable works as a dialogue writer in Tamil Cinema includes Nayakan, Guna, Baashha and Pudhupettai.

Constantine Joseph Beschi, also known under his Tamil name of Vīramāmunivar, was an Italian Jesuit priest, missionary in South India, and Tamil language littérateur.

Subramania Bharathi, was a Tamil writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. Popularly known as "Mahakavi Bharathi", he was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry and is considered one of the greatest Tamil literary figures of all time. His numerous works included fiery songs kindling patriotism during the Indian Independence movement.

Raghavan Chudamani was an Indian writer writing in Tamil. She also wrote short stories in English as Chudamani Raghavan. Her name also appears as Choodamani.

R. N. Joe D'Cruz is a Tamil writer, novelist and documentary film director from Tamil Nadu, India. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2013 in the Tamil language category for his novel Korkai. He is the Tamil Nadu state president of Samskrita Bharati.

Professor A. Dakshinamurthy is an eminent Tamil scholar, writer, and an English translator of classical, medieval and modern Tamil literature. He is a pioneer in the field of translation of Classical Tamil works. He is best known for his complete and faithful English translations of 19 ancient classical Tamil literature for the very first time in history between the period of 1999-2012. The Government of India honored him with the Presidential Award for lifetime achievement in Classical Tamil, 'The Tolkappiyar Award' for the year 2015.

Alexander Mikhailovitch Dubiansky, also spelt Alexander Dubianskiy, Alexander Dubyanskiy, or Aleksandr Dubiansky, was a Russian Tamil scholar, university professor, linguist, and writer. During his lifetime, he was accredited and acknowledged for his valuable contributions towards the revival of Tamil language scholarship in Russia, especially after the downfall of Soviet Union.

Vidhva Shiromani Brahma Sri C. Ganesha Iyer was a Ceylonese Tamil philologist from Jaffna.

Lakshmi Holmström MBE was an Indian-British writer, literary critic, and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works were her translations of short stories and novels by contemporary writers in Tamil, such as Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami, C. S. Lakshmi, Bama, and Imayam. She obtained her undergraduate degree in English literature from the University of Madras and her postgraduate degree from University of Oxford. Her postgraduate work was on the work of R. K. Narayan. She was the founder-trustee of SALIDAA – an organisation archiving the work of British writers and artists of South Asian origin. She lived in the United Kingdom.

Maha Vidhwan Rao Sahib Mu Raghava Iyengar (1878–1960) was a well known Tamil scholar and researcher of Tamil literature.

The Bhasha Kavisekhara Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar (1870–1946) was known for critical scholarship and creative interpretation of literature.

Maha vidhwan Thirumaaligai Appan Narayana Iyengar was born to Thirumaaligai Appan Iyengar and Shenkamalavalli Ammal on 31 Oct 1861 in EthirkOtai near Srivilliputhur. After having learnt the basics of Tamil literature and grammar from his father Appan Iyengar and other scholars near his home town during his formative years, he moved to Ramanathapuram.

B. R. Rajam Iyer was an Indian lawyer and writer who wrote in Tamil and English. He is the author of Kamalambal Saritharam, an early Tamil novel.

D. Jayakanthan, popularly known as JK, was an Indian writer, journalist, orator, film-maker, critic and activist. Born in Cuddalore, he dropped out of school at the age of 9 and went to Madras, where he joined the Communist Party of India. In a career spanning six decades, he authored around 40 novels, 200 short stories, apart from two autobiographies. Outside literature, he made two films. In addition, four of his other novels were adapted into films by others.

Bahuleyan Jeyamohan is an Indian Tamil and Malayalam language writer and literary critic from Nagercoil in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Vittal Rāo K is a Tamil writer who was born at Hosur, a small town in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, India. Although a Kannadiga by birth, Tamil was his medium of instruction since he did his schooling in Tamil Nadu. A man of varied talents, he took to writing in his early twenties, but he became a recognizable face in the local literary circles when his short stories started appearing in popular Tamil weekly magazines such as Ananda Vikatan in 1967. In his literary career spanning over four decades, Vittal Rao has written 9 novels, 5 collections of 140 short stories and 7 essays ranging from world cinema to fine art, history and literature.

Parithimar Kalaignar, a Professor of Tamil at the Madras Christian College, was the first person to campaign for the recognition of Tamil as a classical language.

Thiruvarur Viruttachala Kalyanasundaram, better known by his Tamil initials Thiru. Vi. Ka, was a Tamil scholar, essayist and activist. He is esteemed for the strong humanism of his essays, the analytical depth of his commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid style of his prose. His works, along with those of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Maraimalai Adigal, and Arumuga Navalar, are considered to have defined the style of modern Tamil prose.

Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy, better known by his pen name Kalki, was an Indian writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist. He was named after "Kalki", the tenth and last avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu. His writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novellas, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews.

Mathuram Bhoothalingam was a Tamil writer who wrote plays and short stories in Tamil and English.

Pulavar Kuzhanthai is a Tamil poet and writer. He has written many Tamil books in prose and poetry form. Kuzhanthai is inspired by the Dravidian movement, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and Annadurai C N.

C. S. Lakshmi is an Indian feminist writer and independent researcher in women's studies from India. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai.

Malayapuram Singaravelu, also known as M. Singaravelu and Singaravelar, was a pioneer in more than one field in India. In 1918, he founded the first trade union in India. On 1 May 1923 he organised the first ever celebration of May Day in the country. Singaravelar was a major leader of the Indian independence movement, initially under the leadership of Gandhi, but later, joining the budding communist movement. In 1925, he became one of the founding fathers of the Communist Party of India; and chaired its inaugural convention in Kanpur. Though the British Government arrested him along with other leaders on charges of conspiring to wage war against the Crown, he was set free, soon after, on account of his failing health. Singaravelar was also a path-breaking social reformer who in his early life took to Buddhism, seeing it as a weapon against the evil of untouchability, which was particularly severe in the 19th-century India. He was also in the forefront of Self respect movement, in the Madras Presidency that fought for equal rights for backward castes. Though in his advanced years, he withdrew from active politics, Singaravelar remained a staunch advocate of the causes he had pioneered till his death at the age of 85.

Perumal Murugan is an Indian author, scholar and literary chronicler who writes in Tamil. He has written ten novels, five collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry. Five of his novels have been translated into English: Seasons of the Palm, which was shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize in 2005, Current Show, Poonachi or the Story of a Goat, One Part Woman and Pookkuzhi (Pyre) He was a professor of Tamil at the Government Arts College in Namakkal.

Raju Murugan is a writer, journalist turned filmmaker from Tiruvarur. His works include Vattiyum Muthalum, Ondru and Gypsy, all of which were published in Ananda Vikatan. He made his directorial debut with Cuckoo (2014). His second film, Joker, was awarded the Best Feature Film in Tamil award at the 64th National Film Awards. He worked as an assistant to Lingusamy for 3 years.

Era Natarasan, popularly known as Ayesha Natarasan, is an Indian writer of children's books. He writes in Tamil and English. He is the author of Ayisha / Ayesha that has sold millions of copies in 12 languages. He has written more than 80 books most of them on science and Science Fiction including Vigyana vikramadhithyan kadhaigal which won the "Bal Sahitya Puraskar Award" for Children Literature, awarded by Sahitya Academy.

Arumuka Navalar was a Sri Lankan Shaivite Tamil language scholar, polemicist, and a religious reformer who was central in reviving native Hindu Tamil traditions in Sri Lanka and India.

Charu Nivedita is a postmodern, transgressive Tamil writer, based in Chennai, India. His novel Zero Degree was longlisted for the 2013 edition of Jan Michalski Prize for Literature. Zero Degree was inducted into the prestigious '50 Writers, 50 Books - The Best of Indian Fiction', published by HarperCollins. Vahni Capildeo places Charu Nivedita on par with Vladimir Nabokov, James Joyce and Jean Genet, in her article in the Caribbean Review of Books. He was selected as one among 'Top Ten Indians of the Decade 2001 - 2010' by The Economic Times. He is inspired by Marquis de Sade and Andal. His columns appear in magazines such as Art Review Asia, The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle.

Devaneya Pavanar was a prominent Indian Tamil author who wrote over 35 books. Additionally, he was a staunch proponent of the "Pure Tamil movement" and initiated the Etymological Dictionary Project primarily to bring out the roots of Tamil words and their connections and ramifications.

Manonmaniyam P. Sundaranar was an Indian scholar, noted for the famous Tamil drama Manonmaniyam. as well as the state song of Tamil Nadu Tamil Thai Valthu.

Venkatarama Ramalingam, or V. Ramalingam Pillai, was a Tamil poet from Tamil Nadu, India and independence fighter. He is well known for his poems about independence.

Poornachandran is a Tamil writer from India. He was born in Arcot in 1949, worked as a Tamil professor in Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli and an emeritus professor in Pondicherry University. He is currently living in Chennai. He has written many books on the subjects of Tamil literary criticism and has translated several books from English to Tamil. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Translation in 2016 for his translation of the fiction Serious Men by Manu Joseph into Tamil as "Poruppumikka Manidargal". He is also a recipient of Anantha Vikatan awards for translation in 2011 and 2016. He has written 11 books, majorly based on literary criticism and western contemporary theories, and has translated 37 books on variety of subjects and genres from English to Tamil. He has also published 4 books and has written a lot of essays in the little magazines such as Kalachuvadu (காலச்சுவடு), Nigazh (நிகழ்), Tamil Neyam. He is one of the first persons to conduct Badal Sircar Theatrical Workshop in Tiruchirappalli in 1989. He had been an influential person in Tiruchi Cine-forum and Tiruchi Readers-forum and had developed an interest on art films and serious book reading in many of his students. He is actively writing essays and articles in his website www.poornachandran.com which shall help the students on their academics and the others to think on the contemporary issues faced by the society on various fields. He is also running an endowment on his name through which he has been conducting regular workshops for the students on the subjects of literature and criticism.

C. Viruthachalam ,, better known by the pseudonym Pudhumaipithan, was one of the most influential and revolutionary writers of Tamil fiction. His works were characterized by social satire, progressive thinking and outspoken criticism of accepted conventions. Contemporary writers and critics found it difficult to accept his views and his works were received with extreme hostility. He as an individual and his works have been extensively reviewed and debated for over sixty years since his death. His influence has been accepted and appreciated by the present day writers and critics of Tamil fiction. In 2002, the Government of Tamil Nadu nationalised the works of Pudumaippithan.

Lalgudi Saptarishi Ramamrutham was born in Bangaluru, Karnataka State. He was a veteran Tamil novelist, having authored 300 short stories, 6 novels and 10 collections of essays. He died on his ninety-first birthday.

Pa. Raghavan, a well known Tamil writer, winner of the prestigious ‘Bharathiya Basha Parishad Award’ in 2004. His best known and most appreciated work is Yathi, a Novel, which shows the world of Indian Sanyasis (Monks). His non fictions like Dollar Desam and Nilamellam Raththam are considered to be the milestones in Tamil non-fiction writing.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indian politician, independence activist, lawyer, writer, historian and statesman. Rajagopalachari was the last Governor-General of India, as India soon became a Republic in 1950. Furthermore, he was the first Indian-born governor-general, since before him the posts were held by British nationals. He also served as leader of the Indian National Congress, Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of Madras state. Rajagopalachari founded the Swatantra Party and was one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. He vehemently opposed the use of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament. During his lifetime, he also acquired the nickname 'Mango of Salem'.

Tiruvengimalai Sesha Sundara Rajan (1880–1953) was an Indian doctor, politician and freedom-fighter who served the Minister of Public Health and Religious Endowments in the Madras Presidency from 1937 to 1939.

Ki. Rajanarayanan, popularly known by Tamil initials as Ki. Ra., is a Tamil folklorist and acclaimed writer from India.

S. Ramakrishnan is an influentially important writer of modern Tamil literature. He is a full-time writer who has been active over the last 27 years in diverse areas of Tamil literature like short stories, novels, plays, children's literature and translations. He has written and published 9 novels, 20 collections of short stories, 3 plays, 21 books for children, 3 books of translation, 24 collections of articles, 10 books on world cinema, 16 books on world literature including seven of his lectures, 3 books on Indian history, 3 on painting and 4 edited volumes including a Reader on his own works. He also has 2 collections of interviews to his credit. He won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2018 in Tamil language category for his novel Sanjaaram.

Anuradha Ramanan was a Tamil writer, artist and a social activist. She is survived by two daughters Smt. Sudha Ramanan and Smt. Subha Ramanan. Both of them live with their families in the United States of America.

Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, commonly known as Periyar, also referred to as Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'Father of the Dravidian movement'. He did notable work against Brahminical dominance and gender and caste inequality in Tamil Nadu.

Thiagaraja Sadasivam, better known as Kalki Sadasivam, was an Indian freedom fighter, singer, journalist and film producer who was one of the founders, along with Kalki Krishnamurthy of the Tamil magazine Kalki. He is well known as the husband of famous classical carnatic singer M.S. Subbulakshmi.

Bhashyam Iyengar, better known by the pen name of Sandilyan, was an Indian writer known for his historical fiction novels in Tamil. He is known for his historical romance and adventure novels, often set in the times of the Chola and Pandya empires.

N. Vembusamy Sankaran, known popularly as Gnani, was an Indian journalist and writer in Tamil language. He wrote articles under the pseudonyms Vamban, Cynic and Nandan, and is known for frank and uncompromising views on politics and culture, which he has expressed in the media for 30 years. He functioned in multiple roles in newspapers, magazines, plays and films. His son Manush Nandan works as a cinematographer in Tamil cinema.

D. Selvaraj was a Tamil writer from Tamil Nadu, India. He was the author of a number of novels, short stories, and plays in Tamil. He was a lawyer by profession and was involved in various Communist and left leaning writers' organisations like Democratic Writers Association India and the Progressive writers association of Tamil Nadu (TNPWA). He was in the executive committee member of the TNPWA.. He received the Tamil Nadu Government's literary award for the best Novel for 2011 for his work on tannery workers of Southern Tamil Nadu titled "Thol". He did the field work for Thol for a decade before writing it. The novel was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for Tamil in 2012.

Sivagyana Munivar was a saivite sage and scholar from Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. He was well versed in both Tamil and Sanskrit.

Kailayar Sellanainar Sivakumaran (also known as K. S. Sivakumaran; is a Sri Lankan Tamil writer, art & literary critic, Journalist and radio & TV personality. He writes and broadcasts both in Tamil and English.

P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri was a Sanskrit scholar, who also acquired mastery over Tamil language and literature. He was the first to translate Tolkāppiyam into English.

Alagu Subramaniam was a Ceylon born writer, a prominent figure in London's Bloomsbury literary circle, a Barrister-at-Law of The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon.

Swaminatha Desikar "Susai", born Swaminatha Desikar, was a spiritual writer. He was born from a Tamil-speaking Desikar family in Valavanur, Tamil Nadu. He compiled three books in Tamil.

Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His efforts over five decades brought to light major literary works in Tamil and contributed vastly to the enrichment of its literary heritage. Iyer published over 90 books in his lifetime, on a variety of matters connected to classical Tamil literature, and collected over 3,000 paper manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts and notes of various kinds.

Komal Swaminathan was a congressional activist in his early years, a Tamil theater personality, film director and journalist.

Vannadasan, aka Kalyanji is a Tamil writer from India. He was born as Siva Kalyana Sundaram in Tirunelveli in 1946, where he currently resides.. He is a son of Thi. Ka. Sivasankaran, a renowned Tamil writer. He writes short stories and non fiction articles under the pseudonym of Vannadhasan and poems under Kalyanji. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil in 2016 for his short story collection Oru Siru Isai. He is also a recipient of Vishnupuram Literary Award, which he also won in 2016. He is a retired bank employee.

Dr. K. Vijayakarthikeyan is an Indian author, bureaucrat, civil servant and is currently working as The Collector of Tiruppur District in the Tamil Nadu. He also served as the Commissioner & Special Officer, Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Assistant Collector (Trainee) at Erode and Sub Collector at Kovilpatti before his appointment as Director for Tamil Nadu Institute of Urban Affairs Coimbatore City.

K. A. P. Viswanatham Pillai was a Tamil scholar, orator and social activist. Despite having no formal education he developed an interest towards the Tamil literature and Siddha medicine and learned them by himself. His father Periyanna and his elder brother Krishnan and Arumugam living as a joint family. They also doing a joint venture business (tobacco) with the name of K.A.P. That precedes Viswanathan as K.A.P Viswanathan. He also took part in politics and was an active member of Justice Party. He became the first General Secretary of the party, a position which he continued to hold till 1940 after which C. N. Annadurai took over. He also took part in the Anti-Hindi agitation of 1937–40 and was imprisoned. Viswanatham was also instrumental in launching the Tamil University at Thanjavur.