S. Tamilselvan wins Sahitya Akademi award for literary criticism

Tamil writer and essayist S. Tamilselvan has won the Sahitya Akademi grant for 2025 successful the literate disapproval category. The grant is for his publication Tamizh Sirugathaiyin Thadangal, which traces the past of Tamil abbreviated stories. The grant was expected to person been announced successful December 2025, but was delayed.

Mr. Tamilselvan, exertion of the literate mag Semmalar, said determination had been an effort to destruct the autonomy of the Sahitya Akademi and that the announcement of the prize had been delayed by 3 months. “I was disquieted that I mightiness beryllium the past writer to person the grant from the autonomous body. I anticipation it volition beryllium allowed to relation independently with its autonomy,” helium said.

Mr. Tamilselvan, a erstwhile president and wide caput of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artistes Association, besides served arsenic a State committee subordinate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). His abbreviated communicative Veyilodupoi was aboriginal made into a movie arsenic Poo starring histrion Srikanth successful the pb role.

Tamizh Sirugathaiyin Thadangal begins with V.V.S. Iyer, whose Kulathankarai Aalamaram is considered the archetypal Tamil abbreviated story.

“I started analysing the authorities of Tamil abbreviated stories implicit the years and recovered that the pioneers of the genre made contributions that touched upon each aspects of the abbreviated communicative form,” Mr. Tamilselvan writes successful the preface to the book. He provides a elaborate relationship of the authors, the literate movements they belonged to, and the magazines successful which their works were published, portion analysing the literate merits and authorities of the abbreviated stories.

P. Shanmugam, State caput of the CPI(M), said Mr. Tamilselvan had been penning for the past 50 years and that his publication Arasiyal Enakku Pidikkum, which explains Left-wing authorities successful elemental terms, had sold lakhs of copies. Another of his books, Jindabad Jindabad, recounts a commercialized unionist’s acquisition successful politics. Thiruppiaditha Varalaru is simply a 1,000-page relationship of the 100-year past of the communist question and the empowerment of mediocre peasants successful the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin besides congratulated Mr. Tamilselvan connected winning the award. “Even though it is delayed, the grant has reached the due hands. Let your stories beryllium translated into different languages truthful that our stories scope everyone,” helium said successful a connection connected societal media.